David Sanakoev | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Санахъоты Дауыт Давид Санакоев | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Sanakoev in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theParliament of South Ossetia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2019–2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2ndMinister of Foreign Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 30 May 2012 – 22 April 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Leonid Tibilov | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Murat Dzhioev [ru] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kazbulat Tskhovrebov | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioner for Human Rights | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2004–2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Inal Tasoev | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1976-12-14)14 December 1976 (age 48) Tskhinvali,Georgian SSR,Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | For Justice (2024-present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Historian diplomat | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Branch/service | South Ossetia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 2004–2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | |||||||||||||||||||||||
David Georgievich Sanakoev[a][b] (born 14 December 1976) is an Ossetian separatist, indicted war criminal, politician, diplomat, and international fugitive, who served asMinister of Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia from 2012 to 2015, during the presidency ofLeonid Tibilov.[1]
Sanakoev attendedTskhinvalisecondary school No. 5 from 1982 to 1993. He then attended theSouth Ossetian State University, earning a degree in Finance and Credit in 1998. In 2008, he enrolled in theRussian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and wrote a dissertation titled "The activities of public authorities to resolve refugee issues on the materials of North Ossetia-Alania."[2]
Sanakoev is also the president of South Ossetia'sKyokushin-kan Karate-do Federation.[citation needed]
Sanakoev worked as a consultant to the Children's Fund of the Republic of South Ossetia from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2001, he worked for an organization named Era as a consultant on refugee issues. From 2001 to 2002, he worked as an advisor to the Agency for the Motivation of Society and Social Development. From 2002 to 2004, he worked as an assistant for the Agency for Socio-Economic and Cultural Development.[citation needed]
In 2004, he began working for theArmed Forces of South Ossetia as the Deputy commander for the Separate Mountain Company which was under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces' Ministry of Defense and Emergency Situations. His commander wasBestauta Bala Ivanovich. Simultaneously, starting in 2004 he began working as the Presidential Representative for Human Rights for presidentEduard Kokoity. During his time in this capacity, he oversaw what the South Ossetian government called the "evacuation of children" fromTskhinvali. Sanakoev has been deemed responsible for the illegal kidnapping and imprisonment of 110 Georgian civilians, mostly children and the elderly, of which 27 were confirmed to have died due to neglect and poor conditions, with another 38 missing to this day.[3]
Following the conclusion of the war, Sanakoev released the surviving prisoners under his care, only 45 survived the conditions he subjected them to. He has also worked for Ossetia Accuses and the Organization of Ossetian Communities Sandizan since 2008, both of which accuse Georgia of committing war crimes. He has also worked for theUnited Nations as a South Ossetian representative to the discussions on a non-violent resolution to thefrozen conflict, as well as for discussions on refugees and missing persons.[4]
Sanakoev ran as a candidate in the2012 South Ossetian presidential election. He campaigned on a platform of government reform, wishing to sever ties between the government and big business, creating directly electeddistrict heads, and make ministerial positions be held accountable toparliament[5] He advanced to the second round after narrowly beating Moscow-backedDmitry Medoyev with 6,627 votes to Medoyev's 6,415, making the election the first without a Russia-endorsed candidate. He went on to get 12,439 votes, or 43.64% of the electorate, well short of Tibilov's 15,786 votes or 55.38% of the electorate. Despite this, Tibilov named Sanakoev his foreign minister on May 30, 2012[6][7]
Hoping to keep his political platform of reformism alive, Sanakoev founded theNew Ossetia political party immediately after his defeat in 2012 to participate in the2014 South Ossetian parliamentary election. Sanakoev immediately tempered expectations for the party during its foundation, and the party went on to win 6.27% of the vote, but zero seats in parliament.[8][9] As minister of foreign affairs, he leaked a draft treaty between Russia and South Ossetia, which would have resulted in the annexation of the republic by Russia, to Georgian media. The treaty had already been redrafted by that point, without the annexation clause.[10][11] Sanakoev failed a no confidence vote on March 13, 2015 for officially for missing two parliamentary sessions and was removed from office on April 22, 2015. Unofficially, the vote was retaliation for leaking of the draft treaty to Georgian media. After this incident, Sanakoev was labeled as "nationalist" and "pro-Georgian" byValery Kaziyev, then head of theCommunist Party of South Ossetia. In response to these accusations, Sanakoev sued Kaziyev for libel.[12]
In the 2017 election, pro-RussianAnatoly Bibilov was elected president and introduced new bureaucratic hurdles for opposition parties, namely needing to register a party before every election, with his office determining which parties can and cannot be re-registered. New Ossetia found itself in the latter category. As the two parties platforms were similar, Sanakoev merged New Ossetia intoNykhaz and was elected its chairman in June 2018. Shortly after, in 2019 he was joined by theAlanian Union led byAlan Gagloev.[7][13][9] As chairman, Sanakoev oversaw the party's efforts in the2019 South Ossetian parliamentary election. During the election, the party doubled its popular vote, but failed to gain any new seats, although Sanakoev won a seat. In the February 2020 party leadership election, which he did not attend, Sanakoev was replaced by Gagloev, who became the party's candidate for president in the2022 South Ossetian presidential election, and went on to win.[14]
Sanakoev remained a member of parliament for Nykhaz until 11 April 2024, when he was one of the founders of the newly formed partyFor Justice alongside two other MPs,Harry Muldarov andDzambolyt Medoev.[15] All three of them had their Russian citizenship revoked for supporting creating a "state border" between South Ossetia and Georgia.[15] The group would be joined by two more MPs,Andrei Maldzihov andAmiran Diakonov, as well as the controversial former leader of the Leningor districtSoslan Gabaraev.[15] On May 6, 2024, the South Ossetian Central Election Commission, reported that For Justice would not be allowed to stand for the election, the party protested releasing a statement that "The ruling party ‘Nykhas’ blatantly disregards the law" and that "The election campaign is conducted outside the boundaries of both law and decency."[16]
On 24 June 2022, Sanakoev wasindicted by theInternational Criminal Court due to his aforementioned detention of 110 ethnically Georgian civilians, mostly consisting of elderly women and children. Combined with the fact the poor conditions he placed them under resulted in the proven deaths of at least 27 of them, the ICC found that he violatedarticle 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.[3]
: In Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of the Republic of South Ossetia - 2006: Participant of the peacekeeping operation in Pridnestrovie - 2007
"For Service in Guarding Peace in South Ossetia" - 2008, 2010: Bulavin uprising 300th year anniversary jubilee cross - 2008: Regimental badge of General Baklanov - 2009: Silver Cross of the Orenburg Cossack Society - 2010: For Faith and Fatherland -2010: Golden Badge of Honor in Public Recognition - 2011