Emzar Kvitsiani: Difference between revisions

Kvitsiani was born in 1961 in the village of [[Chkhalta]], part of the predominantly ethnic Georgian [[Svans|Svan]] upper Kodori valley in the then-[[Abkhaz ASSR|Soviet Abkhazia]], an [[autonomous republic]] within the [[Georgian SSR]]. He studiedfinished agronomythe in[[Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management|Novosibirsk Institute of National Economy]] and later graduated the Kyiv General Staff Academy with Russiahonors.<ref name="patriots.ge">{{cite web |url=http://patriots.ge/leadership-emzar-kvitsiani/ |title=Leadership: Emzar Kvitsiani {{!}} Alliance of Patriots of Georgia |website=patriots.ge |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023201241/http://patriots.ge/leadership-emzar-kvitsiani/ |archive-date=2016-10-23}} </ref><ref name="Marten">{{cite book|last=Marten|first=Kimberly|title=Warlords: Strong-arm Brokers in Weak States|url=https://archive.org/details/warlordsstrongar00mart|url-access=registration|date=2012|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=0801464587978-0801464584|pages=[https://archive.org/details/warlordsstrongar00mart/page/88 88–99]}}</ref><ref name=lenta>{{cite news|script-title=ru:Квициани, Эмзар|url=http://lenta.ru/lib/14163606/#19|accessdate=1 March 2014|agency=Lenta.ru|language=Russian|trans_titletrans-title=Kvitsiani, Emzar}}</ref> According various reports, he had a criminal record during the Soviet period.<ref name=rferl2014>{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Supporters Demand Release Of Jailed Former Georgian Warlord|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/caucasus-report-kvitsiani-supporters-demand-release/26705388.html|accessdate=23 November 2014|agency=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=22 November 2014}}</ref> A detailed academic study claims he developed contacts to Soviet organized crime while in jail, and that after his release he was involved in running illegal casinos in Abkhazia.<ref name="MartenBook">{{cite book|last1=Marten|first1=Kimberly|title=Warlords: StromStrong-Arm Brokers in Weak States|url=https://archive.org/details/warlordsstrongar00mart|url-access=registration|date=2012|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|page=[https://archive.org/details/warlordsstrongar00mart/page/88 88]|isbn=9780801450761}}</ref>

After the [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)|secessionist war]] broke out in Abkhazia in 1992, Kvitsiani organized a militia force of several hundred fighters named ''Monadire'' ("the Hunter") in the upper Kodori valley in order to fend off the Abkhaz threat. He succeedingsucceeded in keeping the valleystrategically crucial gorge under the control of his militia after the retreat of the Georgian forces from Abkhazia in 1993, though militia in the area reportedly also demanded money and possessions from fleeing civilians, in exchange for passage.<ref name="MartenBook" /> Following the war, Kvitsiani maintained nominal dependence on the central government of Georgia. The then-[[President of Georgia]] [[Eduard Shevardnadze]] attempted to channel Kvitsiani's activities into the legal framework of the Georgian state apparatus. Kvitsiani was appointed deputy special state envoy to the Kodori valley in 1997 and then special state envoy to that area in 2000. He and his men entertained good relations with the Abkhaz people despite numerous skirmishes and incidents occurring over the years. According to his own claims, Abkhaz representatives occasionally tried to persuade him to sign a four-sided treaty that would effectively transfer control of the valley over to the Sukhumi administration. Kvitsiani however always refused and also countered various armed incursions, mostly in a pacifying manner.<ref name="patriots.ge"/> He earned the Abkhazians respect by treating prisoners well and in some cases even releasing them with their arms returned. In 1998, his militia was made a special battalion of the [[Georgian Armed Forces]], but the government had little control of it.<ref name=civil26993>{{cite news|title=Wanted Ex-Warlord Arrested on Arrival in Tbilisi|url=http://civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=26993|accessdate=1 March 2014|newspaper=[[Civil Georgia]]|date=28 February 2014}}</ref><ref name=lenta/> In 2004 on behalf of the Georgian government Emzar Kvitsiani was also engaged and partially responsible in convincing the Abkhazians to clear minefields that were deployed during the war. In return minefields laid by the Georgian army would be removed as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.landmine.de/archiv/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/news/news-detailseite/article/georgia-abkhazia-ageree-to-demine-kodori-gorge.html |title=Landmine.de: Georgia, Abkhazia ageree to demine Kodori Gorge |website=www.landmine.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118100542/http://www.landmine.de/archiv/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/news/news-detailseite/article/georgia-abkhazia-ageree-to-demine-kodori-gorge.html |archive-date=2016-11-18}} </ref>

Kvitsiani's role in the abduction of the [[United Nations]] and Georgian officials in Kodori in the 1990s, the [[2001 Kodori crisis]], and various supposed criminal activities in the region hashave been disputed.<ref name=lenta/><ref name="Marten"/> During the [[Rose Revolution]] in Georgia in November 2003, he was in [[Tbilisi]] and supported Shevardnadze, after whose abdication, Kvitsiani was removed from his official position by the new President [[Mikheil Saakashvili]] in December 2004, while his unit was declared disbanded in April 2005. Kvitsiani defied the move and, on 22 July 22, 2006, declared disobedience to the government of Georgia. In an [[2006 Kodori crisis|ensuing crisis]], the Georgian forces moved in into the valley and besieged Kvitsiani in Chkhalta. In a clash that the Georgian military's US advisers would later view as "less than stellar" according to [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]], Kvitsiani did not put up significant resistance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-kvitsiani-russia/26818432.html|title = Georgian Court Releases Jailed Warlord}}</ref> During a crossfire, a local woman was killed. To avoid further casualties, Kvitsiani and the remnant of his followers were allowed through a military cordon.<ref>{{cite news|title=Officials Visit Kodori|url=http://civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=15499|accessdate=1 March 2014|newspaper=Civil Georgia|date=26 July 2007}}</ref> Georgia set up a local administration of the valley under the aegis of the [[Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia]], but [[Battle of the Kodori Valley|lost control]] over it during the August 2008 [[Russia–Georgia war]].<ref name="Marten"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Owen|first=Elizabeth|title=Georgia: Abkhazia Reasserts Control over Upper Kodori Gorge|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav101608.shtml|accessdate=1 March 2014|date=October 15, 2008|agency=EurasiaNet}}</ref> Kvitsiani has repeatedly stressed and maintains to this date that the former Georgian [[United National Movement (Georgia)|leadership]] under grip of powerful outside influence has purposefully worked towards handing over the Kodori valley and that it was their plan all along.

After his ouster from the Kodori valley, Kvitsiani eventually fled to Russiathe Russian [[North Caucasus]], from where he issued threats of guerrilla warfare to the Georgian government.<ref name="Marten"/> Later caught by Russian special services, he managed to escape after reportedly being tortured. He remained wanted by Georgia for charges related to the formation of an illegal armed group and an armed mutiny.<ref name=civil26993/> His sister, Nora Kvitsiani, was arrested on similar charges and sentenced 6.5 years in prison, but she was released afterby the change of government in Georgia ina Octoberparole 2012board.<ref name=lenta/>

== Arrest and trial ==

On 28 February 28, 2014, Kvitsiani,<ref>{{cite news|last=Kirtzkhalia|first=Nana|title=Former representative of Georgian president in Kodori gorge to return homeland|url=http://en.trend.az/regions/scaucasus/georgia/2246762.html|accessdate=3 March 3, 2014|date=27 February 27, 2014|agency=Trend News}}</ref> flew from [[Moscow]] to Tbilisi, where he was arrested upon his arrival at the [[Tbilisi International Airport]]. He declared he knew the authorities were going to arrest him, but he wanted to cooperate and seek justice.<ref name=civil26993/> On 17 November 17, 2014, a court in the west Georgian town of [[Zugdidi]] found Kvitsiani guilty of mutiny and of forming an illegal armed group—chargesgroup — charges Kvitsiani denied.<ref name=rferl2014/> He was sentenced to 16 years in jail, but released after the [[Kutaisi]] court of appeals approved a plea bargain deal between him and the prosecution on 28 January 28, 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-Warlord Released from Jail in Plea Deal|url=http://civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=28008|accessdate=28 January 2015|work=Civil Georgia|date=28 January 2015}}</ref>

== Political Engagementengagement post-2015 ==

Kvitsiani is one of the leaders of the [[Alliance of Patriots of Georgia]], a populist party that gained six seats in the parliamentary elections in Georgia in October 2016.<ref name="AofP Website" />