On March 2, 1997, members of the parliamentary faction “Abkhazia” launched a hunger strike demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Abkhazia. Twelve deputies, including Boris Kakubava and Germane Patsatsia, staged the protest inside the IMELI building in Tbilisi. The next day, President Eduard Shevardnadze visited the strikers, telling them that resolving the Abkhazian conflict would take time and that removing Russian forces would not solve the problem.

The commander of the Caucasus Special Border District, Vladimir Rozaev, declared that “Russian border guards will not leave Abkhazia.” Throughout the protest, various officials and cultural figures visited the hunger strikers. Representing the group, MP Tornike Pifia held meetings with the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other parliamentarians.

The hunger strikers drafted a resolution stating that the conflict-resolution process in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia—carried out under the CIS mandate through Russian peacekeeping forces—should be deemed a complete failure. They argued that, as a result, both the peacekeeping contingent and all other Russian military units stationed in Abkhazia must withdraw unconditionally from the conflict zone. Parliamentary Chair Zurab Zhvania promised to support the adoption of this resolution and urged the hunger strikers to end their protest. However, they refused, noting that previous resolutions had been adopted without producing any tangible results.

On March 16, the fifteenth day of the hunger strike, thousands of supporters gathered outside IMELI, later marching to Hotel Iveria (today’s Radisson Blu Iveria). Around 4,000 people rallied, with Kakubava promising that the following day they would present the resolution to the crowd. Kakubava assured the protesters that the demonstration would end only when “the displaced people from Abkhazia and Samachablo could say, ‘We are home.’”

However, Parliament did not take up the resolution. An inter-factional group was formed, but it failed to reach an agreement with the hunger strikers. At the same time, 30,000 signatures were collected in support of a legislative initiative calling for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping forces from Georgia.

On March 21, another crowd of roughly 10,000 people gathered in front of the Iveria Hotel. At the rally, Germane Patsatsia addressed the protesters, saying: “We have achieved our goal through this hunger strike. This goal—both latent and real—has now been met. We knew Parliament would not adopt the proposed draft resolution. We began this struggle aiming for the maximum so that we could at least secure the minimum. We are now heading to Parliament with a strategic purpose: to fight so that on April 3 our demand is included in a major political decision… What matters is obtaining a political decision. We do not care what this government—concerned only with its own will and its own stomach—chooses to implement. And if the Russian military does not withdraw despite Parliament’s decision, we will drive them out ourselves—we will cut off their heads!”

Following the rally, the hunger strikers decided to end their fast but announced that protests would continue. On April 2, demonstrators gathered again. Boris Kakubava informed them that Parliament planned to discuss the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces and all Russian military units from the occupied territories the next day. He called on supporters to gather at 10:00 a.m. on April 3. However, the protest near the Parliament building did not take place, as police and internal troops had been heavily deployed. The demonstrators — fewer in number than expected — returned once more to the area around the Iveria Hotel. Another rally was announced for April 9.

On April 9, protesters gathered near the Philharmonic, marched to Parliament, paid tribute to the victims at the April 9 Memorial, and held a rally. The demonstration was led by parties affiliated with the “Round Table – Free Georgia” coalition. Afterwards, participants moved to Dedaena Park.

A June 2 issue of Kviris Palitra reported that members of the “Abkhazia” party and displaced persons were still protesting at the Iveria Hotel, this time staging a standing demonstration and continuing to demand the adoption of the resolution. At the time, the hotel was housing internally displaced persons, which is why it remained the central protest site.