Aslan Abashidze

Aslan Abashidze (Georgian: ასლან აბაშიძე) (born in Batumi, July 20, 1938) was the leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia from 1991 to May 5, 2004. He resigned under the pressure of the central Georgian government and mass opposition rallies during the 2004 Adjara crisis, and has since lived in Moscow, Russia. On January 22, 2007, the Batumi city court found him guilty of misuse of office and embezzlement of GEL 98.2 million state funds, and sentenced him to a 15-year imprisonment in absentia. He also faces a charge of murder of his former deputy, Nodar Imnadze, in 1991.

Abashidze was born into a renowned Muslim Ajarian family, a branch of the Abashidze princely house. His great-uncle Memed Abashidze was a famous writer and member of the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of Georgia between 1918–1921, but was shot on Joseph Stalin's orders in 1937. His father was sent to the Gulag for ten years but survived. Despite a difficult childhood, during the 1950s Abashidze was able to obtain degrees in history and philosophy at Batumi University and in economics at Tbilisi State University. He worked as a teacher and economist for a period before joining Georgia's regional public service. He was the director of several technical service institutes before being named a regional minister in Batumi, the capital of Ajaria, where he served as Minister of Community Service. He was later appointed the national First Deputy Minister of Community Service and moved to Tbilisi. This was, however, a relatively minor government post.

In spite of his descent from a renowned Muslim family that played a pivotal role in strengthening Georgian and Islamic identities among the Muslims of Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze converted to Christianity.

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