Zhiuli Shartava
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Zhiuli Shartava (Georgian: ჟიული შარტავა) (1944-1993) was a Georgian politician who was killed by Abkhaz rebels during the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia in 1993.
He was born on 7 March 1944. An engineer by education, he was elected in the Parliament of Georgia in 1992. He chaired the legal Council of Ministers and the Council of Self-Defence of Abkhazian Autonomous Republic during the Georgian-Abkhazian War in 1993. When the city of Sukhumi fell to the Russian-supported secessionist forces on September 27, 1993, Shartava with other Georgian politicians (Guram Gabiskiria, Raul Eshba, Mamia Alasania, Sumbat Saakian, Misha Kokaia and others) refused to flee and was captured by the Abkhaz militants. Initially they were promised safety,[1] but eventually killed under the undetermined circumstances. He was officially honored as the National Hero of Georgia posthumously in 2004.
