Aslan Bzhania
| Aslan Bzhania | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Head of the State Security Service | |
|
In office 23 February 2010 – 29 September 2014 |
|
| President |
Sergei Bagapsh Alexander Ankvab |
| Preceded by | Iuri Ashuba |
| Succeeded by | Zurab Margania |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 April 1963 Tamysh, Abkhazian ASSR, USSR |
Aslan Bzhania (Russian: Аслан Бжания) is a former Head of the State Security Service, a former Presidential candidate and one of the current leaders of the opposition in Abkhazia.
Bzhania was born on 6 April 1963 in the village of Tamysh, Ochamchira District. In 1985, he graduated from the Moscow Automobile and Road Construction University.
Between 1991 and 1993, Bzhania worked for the State Security Service of Abkhazia. In 1994, he became a businessman in Moscow. In 1998, he graduated from the Academy of National Economy under the President of the Russian Federation. Between 1 January 2009 and 24 February 2010, Bzhania served as advisor to the Abkhazian Embassy in Moscow.
On 23 February 2010, following the re-election of Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh, he appointed Bzhania has head of the State Security Service, replacing Iuri Ashuba. Following Bagapsh's death in 2011, Bzhania was re-appointed by his successor Alexander Ankvab.
In 2014, after the May revolution against Ankvab, Bzhania became the candidate of the outgoing government in the subsequent Presidential election, running with Astan Agrba as Vice Presidential candidate. The pair was mominated by an initiative group on 2 July and received the support of the political party Amtsakhara, former Vice President Mikhail Logua and part of the campaign staff of nominee Beslan Eshba, who had been barred from running.
On 21 July, a group of citizens petitioned the Supreme Court to declare Bzhania's registration invalid, as it claimed he had not satisfied the five-year residency requirement, having lived in Moscow until February 2010. The case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.
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