Emzar Kvitsiani: Difference between revisions

'''Emzar Kvitsiani''' ({{lang-ka|ემზარ კვიციანი}}, {{Audio|En-us-Emzar Kvitsiani from Georgia pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|[ɛmzɑr kʼvitsʰiɑni]}}; born April 25, 1961) is a former [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] military commander and politician. He took part in the [[War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)]], forming a paramilitary group ''[[Monadire]]'' in the upper [[Kodori valley]], guarding it from [[Abkhazian Armed Forces|Abkhaz forces]]. He was mainly active in [[Kodori valley]], which he ran ''de facto'' through his militia from 1992 to 2006. Kvitsiani opposed the [[Rose Revolution]], which subsequently led to confrontation with the Georgia's central authorities under [[Mikheil Saakashvili]]. Kvitsiani declared defiance to the authorities in 2006 and was subsequently [[2006 Kodori crisis|ousted]] by the Georgian government forces. He fled to [[North Caucasus]], but, in 2014, he was arrested on his return to Georgia, initially sentenced to 16 years in jail, and then released under a plea bargain in early 2015.<ref name="RFE on release">{{cite news|last1=Fuller|first1=Liz|title=Georgian Court Releases Jailed Warlord|url=http://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-kvitsiani-russia/26818432.html|accessdate=23 October 2016|agency=Radio Free Europe|date=28 January 2015}}</ref> He was one of the leaders of the [[Alliance of Patriots of Georgia]] and a member of [[Parliament of Georgia]].<ref name="AofP Website">{{cite web|last1=Alliance of Patriots of Georgia|title=Leadership: Emzar Kvitsiani|url=http://patriots.ge/leadership-emzar-kvitsiani/|accessdate=23 October 2016|archive-date=21 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021182850/http://patriots.ge/leadership-emzar-kvitsiani/|url-status=dead}}</ref>