SUKHUM. Dec 2 (Interfax) - President of Abkhazia Raul Khajimba has dismissed Interior Minister Garri Arshba from his post and is planning to make a recommendation for the dismissal of Prosecutor General Zurab Achba, the presidential press service said.
"Arshba Garri shall be dismissed as Abkhazian interior minister," the decree signed by the Abkhazian president on Monday said.
The decisions on the dismissals were the result of delays in solving high-profile crimes, Khajimba said at a meeting with the senior officials of the Abkhaz law enforcement agencies.
During the meeting, the president heard a report on the process of the investigation of the crimes committed in Sukhum in November.
Khajimba said following the report that "the result we have requires me to make the decision to dismiss the interior minister and make the recommendation for the People's Assembly on the dismissal of the prosecutor general," the press service said.
As reported earlier, two crime bosses were killed in the San Remo restaurant in Sukhum on November 22. The Abkhaz investigators found over 80 empty cartridges from an AK-47 assault rifle at the crime scene.
According to preliminary information, at least four people were involved in the attack. They wore masks and camouflage. According to the Abkhaz Interior Ministry, the shooting began at around 2:40 p.m., when the masked men pulled over onto Makhadzhirov Embankment and opened fire at people sitting at a table outside the restaurant.
An informed source to Interfax that two men were killed in the shooting in front of the San Remo restaurant. They are crime bosses Astamur Shamba and Alkhas Avidzba, both of whom were born in the town of Gudauta.
According to witnesses, one of the victims managed to fire a few shots in the direction of the attackers.
A 22-year-old waitress was heavily injured; doctors saved her life. Three more injured people were admitted to the Sukhum hospital.
Following the shootout at the restaurant, the Sukhum prosecutor's office opened criminal cases on several counts, including premeditated murder and attempted murder of two or more people committed by a generally dangerous method by a group of persons in collusion.