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Day: October 4, 2025
Inal Jabiev case verdict
In South Ossetia, a court delivered the final verdict in the high-profile criminal case over the death of Tskhinval resident Inal Jabiev, who died in 2020 during interrogation at the Interior Ministry. The defendants in the case were police officers, who never admitted their guilt.
In the summer of 2020, three local residents – Inal Jabiev, Nikolai Tskhovrebov and Gersan Kulumbegov – were detained in Tskhinval on suspicion of attempting to assassinate the interior minister, Igor Naniev. Soon after his arrest, Inal Jabiev died under suspicious circumstances.
His relatives accused law enforcement officers of torturing him to death during interrogation.
That conclusion was also supported by local forensic expert Zarina Dzagoeva.
However, Russian experts disputed the claim, and Dzagoeva later admitted to falsifying her report.
The verdict of Tskhinval City Court:
- Interior Ministry officer Jumbar Bibilov was found guilty under Article 286, Part 3(a) of the Russian Criminal Code – “acts committed with the use of violence or the threat of violence” – and sentenced to five years in prison. He was also banned from holding public office involving administrative or executive powers. Since Bibilov had been in custody from 18 January 2023 until 27 May 2024, he has around three and a half years left to serve.
- Andrei Jioev and Alan Bagaev were each sentenced to three years and ten months in prison. With time already served during pre-trial detention counted, they have about a year left behind bars.
- Zaur Gogichaev and Marat Khugaev were each fined 100,000 rubles, but were released from paying as the statute of limitations had expired.
Another defendant, Atsamaz Naniev, remains on the run: despite a travel ban, he left South Ossetia.
The verdict satisfied neither the victims’ relatives nor the convicted officers.
Fatima Gatagonova, lawyer for the Jabiev family, said she plans to appeal, arguing that the sentence was too lenient and did not match the gravity of the crime.
The convicts’ families, meanwhile, insist they are not guilty of Jabiev’s death.
On the evening after the verdict, relatives of the convicted men gathered in Tskhinval’s central square outside the government buildings where president Alan Gagloev’s office is located. The spontaneous protest was short-lived: people stood silently before dispersing, as security forces surrounded the square on all sides.
Before being elected, Alan Gagloev, then an opposition figure, sharply criticised his predecessor Anatoly Bibilov and accused him of involvement in Inal Jabiev’s death.
The promise to deliver justice became a central part of Gagloev’s campaign and won him the support of disaffected voters.
Now, however, some say that after coming to power, Gagloev has failed to keep his word.
A South Ossetian law enforcement officer familiar with the details of the Jabiev case, speaking on condition of anonymity, also questioned the court’s decision:
“Out of nearly 100 prosecution witnesses questioned, none confirmed the defendants’ guilt. It was never established for each of the defendants how exactly they abused their authority or where negligence was involved.
In addition, according to two Russian forensic examinations, Jabiev’s death was not caused by beatings but, roughly speaking, by [drug] withdrawal.”
At the time of writing, Jabiev’s widow, Oksana Sotieva, said she could not comment until she had read the full verdict, as much of it still remained unclear to her.
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Inal Jabiev case verdict
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602,445 citizens, 17,15% of the total number of eligible voters, have cast their ballots in the municipal elections by 12:00, four hours after the polling stations were opened, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The highest voter turnout was recorded in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region, where 30.76% of the electorate had already voted by 12:00. The lowest voter turnout was registered in Tbilisi – 12.93%.
“The voting process is continuing in a calm environment across polling stations,” CEC spokesperson Natia Ioseliani said at the afternoon briefing, adding, “As of now, no complaints have been filed with the district election commissions.”
Ioseliani also said the CEC had received reports that phone calls were being made to citizens on behalf of the commission, “allegedly to verify whether citizens cast their ballots,” describing them as preparations for “various provocative statements.”
She denied that the CEC was behind the alleged calls. “It seems certain individuals are deliberately using the name of the CEC to damage the institution and mislead voters through such manipulations,” Ioseliani said, calling for an end to the misuse of the commission’s name and urging everyone “not to harm the electoral environment.”
3,513,818 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the elections today at 3,061 polling stations, including 2,284 with electronic voting. CEC expects to offer preliminary results based on electronic precincts in 1-2 hours after the polls close at 8 pm. The final results are expected later, after all ballots have been counted by hand.
In the 2021 local polls, which carried an added meaning of a “referendum” on snap elections, the 12:00 nationwide turnout rate stood at 17.72%, while the final turnout amounted to 51.92%. In the 2017 local elections, the 12:00 nationwide voter turnout rate stood at 16.5%, while the final turnout amounted to 45.65%
In the 2024 parliamentary elections, the 12:00 nationwide voter turnout rate came in at 22,22%.
The local elections take place across Georgia amid a partial opposition boycott, scant credible observation, continued repression by Georgian Dream authorities, jailings of protesters and opposition members, and a crackdown on independent media and watchdogs. The vote comes approximately a year after the disputed parliamentary elections, and just 10 months into the non-stop protests that erupted in response to Georgian Dream’s announcement to halt EU integration. A parallel mass rally has been scheduled at 4 pm at the parliament in Tbilisi with the stated aim of “peacefully overthrowing” the Georgian Dream government.
Follow our live blog for election-day updates.
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