Death of Georgia’s Zviad Gamsakhurdia was murder

The Georgian parliamentary commission on the investigation into the
death of the country’s first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has
classified it as murder, his son Constantine Gamsakhurdia, chairman of
the commission and member of the opposition, said today.

The commission presented the results of its work on February 23, RBC reports.

Gamsakhurdia died on December 31, 1993, at a village in the Samegrelo
region, where he was hiding together with the Georgian prime minister
and supporters. Witnesses said that he was depressed and had poor
health.

Georgian ex-President Eduard Shevarnadze and his government blamed the
defeat in the Abkhaz war of 1993 on betrayal by Gamsakhurdia and his
military formations, which failed to help in the battle in Sukhumi.

The then Prime Minister, Bessarion Gugushvili, said that Gamsakhurdia
committed suicide, knowing that he would be arrested.

The parliamentary commission says that Gamsakhurdia was either killed
by the Georgian authorities or Russian special services.