Georgian-Friendly Abkhazian TikToker Faces Treason Charges
The security service of Russian-occupied Abkhazia has filed charges of high treason against 27-year-old Daur Buava, hailing from Tkvarcheli, an erstwhile ethnically mixed mining town, after he moved to Tbilisi-controlled territory in 2021 and rose to popularity through TikTok videos calling for Georgian-Abkhaz reconciliation.
Charged in absentia, Buava published videos containing “direct and latent appeals to an unlimited circle of users aimed at damaging sovereignty, territorial integrity, national security and defense capacity” of Abkhazia, the security service claimed in a June 3 statement.
The Moscow-backed authorities claimed that Buava also aided Tbilisi in “conducting hostile activity” against Abkhazia by advocating for the occupied region’s “accession” with Georgia.
Also, the security service said that “at the initiative” of Buava the central Georgian authorities allocated a house to another Tkvarcheli resident, Dato Khajimba, and his wife who moved to Georgia proper in December 2021.
The charges of high treason envisage imprisonment from ten to fifteen years or capital punishment, as per the Abkhaz criminal code.
The security service also claimed Buava has been wanted in Russia since 2015 over the illegal acquisition and storage of illicit drugs in a large amount.
Buava has resided in the Tbilisi-controlled territory after announcing his arrival in an October 7, 2021 video on his TikTok account, @tarielovich78.
Born in 1994, in the aftermath of the armed conflict in Abkhazia, Buava has filmed dozens of videos in Georgia proper, visiting local sights, speaking about confidence-building between Georgians and the Abkhaz, and discussing Georgians’ attitudes about the conflict.
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