Fears for the safety of ethnic Georgians in the disputed Republic of Abkhazia have been heightened by the reported extrajudicial execution of Ivan Antilava, his wife and their son-in-law by Abkhazian police at the end of January 1995. The killings were reportedly a revenge attack by Abkhazian police in Tagiloni, Gali district, after several of their men were killed by unknown assailants in late January. In recent years their has been bitter fighting between sections of the Abkhaz population, seeking greater autonomy, and the Georgian government, seeking to preserve Georgia’s territorial integrity.
