Abkhazia: sentence in Russian tourist’s murder case
The man accused of murdering Amina Bikbova, a Russian tourist in Abkhazia, will not be treated as a repeat offender, despite having previously been convicted of a serious sexual assault. The reason is that Edgar Abukhba was a minor at the time. Said Gezerdava, a lawyer and member of the NGO Centre for Humanitarian Programmes, told Caucasian Knot.
It remains unclear what sentence the court will impose.
“Part one of Article 99 of Abkhazia’s Criminal Code, which covers murder, provides for a maximum sentence of 12 years in a high-security prison. Part two is significantly harsher: it provides for a prison term of between eight and 15 years, life imprisonment or the death penalty.
“However, there is a complication when it comes to calculating prison terms. On paper, the sentence could be 12 or 15 years. But under Abkhazia’s system for calculating prison terms, he may serve only eight years,” Said Gezerdava said.
The lawyer added, however, that judges he had spoken to said the court would have information about the previous crime and would take it into account when determining the sentence.
The 26-year-old woman from Orenburg, Russia, was on holiday in the Abkhazian city of Gagra, where she met Edgar Abukhba, a 25-year-old local fruit seller.
They exchanged messages on their phones for a couple of days. Then, on 24 September, Abukhba invited her for coffee, according to Amina’s friend. No one has seen her since, and she stopped contacting her family.
Concerned about their daughter’s disappearance, her parents contacted Abkhazia’s Interior Ministry.
A day later, the ministry announced that police had arrested a suspect in the Russian tourist’s murder. The suspect was Edgar Abukhba.
On 27 September, reports emerged that Abukhba had been detained on suspicion of murdering Amina Bikbova, a 26-year-old tourist from Russia’s Orenburg region who had not contacted her family for three days.
According to investigators, Abukhba confessed to killing her. On 29 September, a court in Gagra ordered him to be held in custody.
In July 2019, Abukhba committed a crime against another Russian tourist. He raped and brutally beat her, leaving her incapacitated. He also stole her phone, money and jewellery. In 2021, a court sentenced him to nine years in prison, but he was released as early as February 2024.
Abukhba has been charged with intentional murder. On 7 October, reports emerged that the case had been transferred from the district prosecutor’s office to the Investigative Department of Abkhazia’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
Amina Bikbova’s father told Caucasian Knot that the Abkhazian authorities had helped the family transport Amina’s body. They buried her on 2 October. According to her father, the authorities in Russia’s Orenburg region provided no assistance.
Conflicts involving tourists have occurred repeatedly in Abkhazia. The most recent incident to come to light took place on 26 August near Lake Ritsa, where tourists clashed with local residents. According to Abkhazia’s Interior Ministry, two tourists suffered soft-tissue injuries and concussions, while police took three Abkhazian residents to a police station.
On 2 August, a woman from Cherkessk who was visiting Abkhazia on holiday was attacked in Sukhumi. She was taken to hospital with a concussion and other injuries.
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Abkhazia: sentence in Russian tourist’s murder case