Chegemskaya Pravda

En febrero de 2009, Inal Khashig se vio envuelto en una polémica cuando varios medios, entre ellos Caucasian Knot y Abaza TV , informaron que el 6 de febrero, mientras se encontraba en el terraplén de Sukhumi , Khashig había sido invitado a subir a un coche en el que viajaban David Bagapsh, sobrino de Sergei Bagapsh y jefe de su guardia presidencial; Kondrat Samsonia, director general de A-Mobile y diputado de la Asamblea Municipal de Sukhumi; y Adgur Tarba, director de la Agencia Municipal de Publicidad. Según el relato, Khashig fue llevado a un terreno baldío en las afueras de la ciudad, donde fue amenazado con correr la misma suerte que Dmitry Kholodov y Anna Politkovskaya si no cambiaba el tono de sus publicaciones. Se dijo que la motivación directa de la amenaza fue el artículo crítico Беспрограммная любовь ( Amor sin programa ) publicado el 3 de febrero en Chegemskaya Pravda sobre el congreso de Abjasia Unida celebrado el 27 de enero. ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ]}

El 18 de febrero, 31 periodistas firmaron una declaración dirigida al presidente Bagapsh en la que exigían su intervención. ^{[ 4 ]} Asimismo, políticos de la oposición solicitaron la intervención de las fuerzas del orden y miembros de la Cámara Pública instaron a todos los actores políticos a resolver las disputas únicamente dentro del marco legal. ^{[ 5 ]} El 19 de febrero, el artículo original de Khashig fue republicado por la agencia de noticias rusa REGNUM . ^{[ 6 ]}

El portavoz presidencial Kristian Bzhania negó la participación de personas del séquito del presidente en el incidente y afirmó haber hablado por teléfono con Inal Khashig, quien no mencionó los supuestos hechos. Asimismo, insinuó que la conversación entre Khashig y los tres hombres tuvo lugar en un café junto al puerto. ^{[ 5 ]}

Khashig initially refused to comment on the reports. He then on 21 February released a statement in which he confirmed that the incident had taken place, while downplaying its seriousness. He denied reports which claimed that he had been taken to the woods and had been beaten. He also denied that he had been taken anywhere by car. Instead, he said that the men had walked to a deserted beach near Kelasuri and that, taking into account that he knew two of the men quite well, the conversation had not been out of line. Khashig did confirm that Kholodov and Politkovskaya had been mentioned, while saying that due to their youth the men probably did not appreciate the semantic load of these names.

Khashig stated that he had not responded to the reports earlier as he did not want to exacerbate an already dramatic situation, and that he was forced to change his mind when the story grew out of proportion. He thanked people for coming to his defence, but stressed that he did not want to be seen as a martyr or a sacrificial lamb. He also wished for the three involved men not to be regarded as crooks. According to Khashig, the principal lesson of the episode was that a journalist is free to raise any sensitive issue, and that those who feel hurt should challenge the journalist through legal channels only.^[7]

Following Khashig's declaration, President Bagapsh released a statement in which he said that he agreed with Khashig that problems can only be solved within the legal framework. He added that he had been concerned about the reported incident, as he had always been a staunch defender of the freedom of speech, but that he had waited with his reaction until all the facts had become clear. He condemned the opposition parties who had not done so and who had used the opportunity to "wage an information war against the government".^[8]