The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) published its judgment in the case of Giga Otkhozoria, a Georgian citizen murdered by occupying forces in the village of Khurcha, near the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region of Georgia, in 2016.

The Court ruled the violation of Article 2 (Right to life) of the European Convention on Human Righs, and the violation of Article 38, (Examination of the case), since the Russian Federation did not submit the case-related material to the Court.

“The Court decided that the applicants must have suffered non‑pecuniary damage that cannot be compensated for solely by the finding of a violation. Ruling on an equitable basis, and taking into consideration its findings of both substantive and procedural breaches of Article 2 of the Convention, the Court awards the applicants jointly EUR 130,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage caused, plus any tax that may be chargeable,” it said.

President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili awarded Otkhozoria’s family with the Medal for Civil Commitment in January 2019.

The Georgian parliament, in 2018, approved the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list with 33 names of individuals who had violated the rights of Georgian citizens in the occupied regions since the 1990s. The individuals will face sanctions both in Georgia and abroad.

The Georgian government regularly raised Otkhozoria’s issue at all local and international formats dealing with Georgian conflicts.