Reports: Journalist Detained in Abkhaz Conflict Zone

A journalist of the Georgian television station, Mze, was detained in the Abkhaz conflict zone on February 26, Mze TV reported.

Malkhaz Basilaia, chief of Mze TV’s bureau in Zugdidi, was arrested at the Enguri bridge (dividing breakaway Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia) as he was doing a story on the Russian presidential election in Abkhazia, Mze TV said. Voting in Abkhazia has already started for Russian peacekeepers and other Russian passport holders in the province.

It is unclear, however, who actually arrested the journalist, with Mze TV saying it was Abkhaz militias, while the Georgian Public Defender saying in a statement that the journalist was arrested by Russian peacekeepers.

A cameraman accompanying Basilaia said that he had seen both Russian peacekeepers and Abkhaz officials talking to the journalist prior to his arrest.

Public Defender Sozar Subari said he had informed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, who will be in Sokhumi on February 27, of the case. “The Commissioner will raise the issue with the Abkhaz authorities during the visit,” Subari said.