Aslan Georgievich Bzhania is an Abkhaz politician who has been the President of Abkhazia since 23 April 2020. He was the Head of the State Security Service, and one of the leaders of the opposition in Abkhazia. He was considered a favorite candidate in the scheduled July 2019 presidential election. However he was admitted to a hospital in Moscow in a severe condition in April 2019, with the presence of a large dose of mercury and aluminum in his blood, leading to allegations of poisoning on political grounds. As of May 2019, he remained in the clinic, his respiratory system and speech impaired. He ran in the subsequent 2020 presidential election, which preliminary reports show he won.
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 nominated 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. Bzhania lost the election in the first round to opposition leader Raul Khajimba, coming in second place with 35.88% of the votes.
Opposition leader
On 3 December 2016, Bzhania was detained by Russian border guards before crossing the border into Abkhazia. The event triggered protests by the Abkhazian opposition, who alleged Bzhania had been arrested on behest of the Abkhazian authorities. On 4 December, President Khajimba asked the Russian Ambassador in Abkhazia to facilitate Bzhania's release. In the evening, Bzhania was released and allowed to cross the border. In a press conference on 6 December, Bzhania stated that he had no direct evidence of involvement by the Abkhazian government, but claimed that while detained, he was approached by a man in civilian clothes who said he was instructed to inform him that he constituted a threat to both the Russian and the Abkhazian state. He also described how he had been subjected to multiple alcohol and drugs tests, and how his personal weapon, munition and license were subjected to close scrutiny.
Presidential elections
In 2019 Bzhania entered the 2019 Abkhazian presidential election, he withdrew from the election on 15 July due to an apparent poisoning. He entered the 2020 election and preliminary reports show he won with 59% of the vote.
