Kokoiti's prisoner

The South Ossetian “KGB” found a large stock of arms and explosives in the house of a 51-year-old pedagogue of a higher education institution and the editor of an opposition newspaper titled “The Position”.  Fatima Margieva is currently held in a Tskhinvali prison awaiting the court ruling.

The population of Tskhinvali has been worried by her arrest but few dare to express any protest openly.

A weapon was in fact kept in Margieva’s house, however, weapons can be found in every other house of the republic that went through the war just one-and-a-half years ago. 

Nobody doubts that Ms. Margieva is a personal inmate of Kokoiti and is punished for her sharp criticism directed against South Ossetia’s president and his government.  Margieva is a member of Kokoiti’s opposition forum in Moscow. Just recently she dared to return to her home town and started publishing “The Opposition” newspaper. 

Under her editorship the newspaper published materials about the willfulness of President Kokoiti, the misallocation of the funds granted by Russia for the rehabilitation of Tskhinvali and other wrongdoings of his regime. Margieva persistently made public statements where she called upon the Russian leaders to pay attention to the “unruliness of Kokoiti”. 

The painfully ambitious Kokoiti was very much displeased with this.  He could easily ignore Margieva because journalists and human rights activists have no real power in Tskhinvali and have no means of rallying people as erybody is afraid of the incumbent regime. But Kokoiti decided otherwise: he ordered to jail Fatima. 

The gun found in her house belonged to her 32 year-old son but was easily used as a ground for getting rid of Fatima.  Everyone admit in private talks that Margieva is being punished for her critical statements.  

Her colleagues and human rights activists say that Kokoiti used Margieva’s punishment to scare others and effectively silence criticisms against him.  If you have become an impression that fighting so fiercely against Kokoiti Fatima Margieva is even a bit pro-Georgian, then you are wrong. In South Ossetia there are virtually no such people. Margieva is a more devoted supporter of South Ossetia’s independence than the acting president. 

The Kremlin gave Kokoiti full freedom of action but it is obvious that this decision is being regretted. The rampant behavior of South Ossetia’s president casts shadow on the reputation of Russia in the republic. 

Under Kokoiti’s order, Russian lawyers will not be allowed to the Margieva’s court hearing while local attorneys refuse to protect her fearing the repressions. The court hearing has been postponed twice already.  The court system of South Ossetia is arranged so that Kokoiti has a full control over it. Russia has completely overlooked this fact.  In this situation Fatima Margieva is showing exemplary bravery: she went on a hunger strike and is decided to fight till the end.  A small protest action was organized in Tskhinvali in Margieva’s support by the editor of the newspaper “21st Century” Timur Tskhurbati and the native of Tskhinvali Grigori Dzasokhov. Besides them, three other people participated in the protest action. The protesters held two posters. One read: “Freedom to Fatima Margieva” and the other asked: “Saakashvili is taking care of Georgia’s armament and who is taking care of Ossetia’s disarmament?”  

Among the demonstrators there were no employees of the university where Margieva had worked for many years. When they learned that a protest action was to be held in Fatima’s support, they said: “We cannot come, we have no time, we have lectures”. 

The government makes full use of its administrative resource and tries to portray Fatima Margieva as a dangerous terrorist through the television under the regime’s control.  But behind all this, one can see a healthy process: at least five people have emerged in South Ossetia who spent one hour in rain and wind to protest against the regime of Kokoiti. This is already a big achievement. Whether the protest wave will rise depends on many factors and, first of all, on the stance Russia takes. 

The article has been prepared with support from the Heinrich Boell Foundation. 

The terminology used in the article belongs to the author and not to “The Liberal”. 

Gedevan Pronev – pseudonym of a freelance journalist who works in Tskhinvali.