Discussions continue in Georgia over the high-profile death of Abkhaz blogger Daur Buava. His mother recently arrived in Tbilisi, though she had not yet made any public statements at the time of recording.
On August 27, the body of the 32-year-old native of Abkhazia was discovered in a rented apartment in one of Tbilisi’s districts. Buava had gained widespread prominence in Georgia for his unconventional stance, advocating for rapprochement between Tbilisi and Sokhumi. Three people have been detained in connection with the case: two men and a young woman who was the last person to see Buava alive.
Using CCTV footage from the building’s entrance, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reconstructed a timeline of events: On August 23, Daur Buava and the detained foreign national took the elevator up to the young man’s apartment. Later that day, cameras captured Buava twice more briefly stepping down to the ground floor, presumably to collect something. On August 25, the footage shows the woman—who had remained with the Abkhaz blogger throughout this period—literally crawling out of the elevator. Two days later, neighbors alerted police to a foul odor coming from the apartment, leading law enforcement officers to discover Daur Buava’s body.
The foreign national has been charged under Article 128 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (abandonment of a person in danger). According to prosecutors, the pair had consumed illicit substances. The suspect stated that she lost consciousness and came to two days later; panicking, she hurriedly fled the apartment. She claimed Buava was unconscious but still breathing. In addition, law enforcement officers seized illicit substances from the homes of two of Buava’s acquaintances. Investigators allege that one of them had supplied the substances to the woman.
Notably, Buava’s acquaintances categorically reject the theory of drug addiction. His former wife, for instance, cited chronic health conditions, while some activists claim Buava may have been eliminated for his work. At the same time, publicly available records indicate that in 2015, he was placed on a wanted list in the Russian Federation for illegal acquisition and possession of narcotics on an especially large scale.
Daur Buava rose to prominence in Georgia several years ago. He set a precedent in the contemporary media landscape: an Abkhaz advocating for friendship with Georgians. Buava moved to Tbilisi in 2021, by his own admission, to find out whether the enemy image painted for him since childhood was accurate. Soon after, he began openly supporting dialogue between Tbilisi and Sokhumi. Over time, Daur co-founded a dedicated youth movement and even addressed the European Parliament. However, as his popularity and influence grew, the blogger began receiving threats from the occupied region. According to him, Abkhaz users who posted comments of support were also tracked down and harassed. In 2022, the de facto regime launched a criminal prosecution against Buava on charges of “state treason.”
This is likely why speculation is rife in Georgia that Daur may have been liquidated by foreign intelligence services. However, colleagues of the young man urge the public not to spread conspiracy theories and to await the official findings of the investigation. In any case, the Abkhaz blogger’s death has saddened a vast number of Georgians, who are awaiting the memorial service to pay their respects to a man who was not afraid to build bridges where others had erected walls.
