Anti-Russia protesters storm parliament in Georgian breakaway region

Demonstrators swarm into building in an effort to stop ratification of a deal giving preferential treatment to Russian property developers

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Hundreds of protesters stormed the parliament of Georgia’s Russian-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia on Friday in an attempt to stop a controversial investment deal with Moscow.
Videos showed a lorry smashing through the building’s perimeter fence, before people climbed through windows, stripping them of their metal security bars.
The crowd was then seen swarming into corridors, where they chanted for the resignation of Aslan Bzhania, the Kremlin-backed president. At least eight people have been reported injured so far.
Abkhazia is considered a Russian puppet state that is financially dependent on Moscow paying its pensions and public sector salaries.
Russia suspended this funding this September after local leaders refused to implement several pro-Kremlin policies.
Friday’s protests broke out as lawmakers met to consider ratifying a deal that opponents say would give preferential treatment to Russian property developers, and price locals out of the market.
The agreement was not passed as a result of the unrest, and Mr Bzhania’s office said he was preparing to remove the measure from consideration.
“The presidential administration is preparing a document to withdraw from parliament the draft law on ratification,” Abkhazia’s press service reported.
“The decision has been taken with the goal of stabilising the situation in the republic.”
The opposition and supporters have taken over several government buildings, including the presidential administration and parliament.
It was reported late on Friday that Mr Bzhania had met with protesters and agreed to step down if they appointed vice-president Badr Gunba as the region’s leader.
The opposition is understood to have rejected this offer and is demanding the resignation of the entire presidential team, saying all of them have “compromised themselves”.
The president previously championed the deal, which sought to lift the region’s ban on the foreign ownership of residential property,
With no international investment entering Abkhazia – because the territory is considered illegally occupied by most UN member states – the new bill was expected to largely benefit Russian investors.
Opponents fear the new legislation would undermine the last of the territory’s independence and allow wealthy Georgians who are residents of Russia to outbid locals for real estate.
Abkhazia is a separatist region internationally recognised as part of Georgia, but seen as independent by Russia and its allies.
It broke away from Georgian rule following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, with the territory controlled by Russian forces and proxies since Moscow’s 2008 war with Georgia.
The loss of Russian social funding in September has thrown the region’s future into doubt, and its foreign minister said Moscow is also planning to remove discounts on energy.
Abkhazia’s energy minister said in November that the statelet’s energy needs were largely met by the subsidy provided by Russia.
Friday’s protests come after a week of unrest over the Russian treaty, and after the detention of five opposition activists on Monday.
Protesters then blocked roads and bridges demanding the release of the detainees, leading to an emergency meeting of the region’s security council.
The authorities said the detainees had tried to attack a member of the Abkhazian parliament while using “foul language”. They were released on Tuesday.
Protests are rare in territories controlled by Russia. The Kremlin has eroded the right to freedom of peaceful assembly by using increasingly restrictive laws, heavy-handed police tactics and criminal prosecutions.
Abkhazia’s opposition has said the protests are not directed against Russia but against Mr Bzhania, who it says is using relations with Russia for his own “selfish interests”.
In a statement released by the opposition on Friday afternoon, it said protesters had gathered “not to oppose our allies, but to protect the national interests of Abkhazia, its natural resources and wealth, which Mr Bzhania is trying to usurp for personal gain”.
The protests come three weeks after Georgia’s governing Georgian Dream party won a parliamentary election amid accusations of Russian meddling.
The party has been in power since 2012 and increasingly tilts towards Russia and China.
Two opposition groups refused to recognise the results as legitimate amid accusations of vote rigging and called for protests.
It is feared it could set the stage for a political crisis centred on the struggle between the pro-Western opposition and the governing party, which has steered the country away from the West.
In September, Russia said it was open to a compromise that could see its troops leave Abkhazia and another Georgian breakaway region, South Ossetia.
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