SUKHUMI, Georgia — The elections commission in Georgia's Russia-backed separatist region of Abkhazia says incumbent Sergei Bagapsh has won a second term as president.
Georgia’s national security council head, Eka Tkeshelashvili, denounced the election as "illegitimate and amoral."
The Abkhazian elections commission said Sunday that Bagapsh won 59 percent of the vote in a race with four other candidates.
His main challenger, Raul Khadzhimba, and two other candidates decried what they called widespread violations in Saturday’s vote.
Abkhazia spun out of Georgia’s control in fighting in the early 1990s. After the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, Moscow recognized Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia, as independent. Only Nicaragua and Venezuela have followed suit.
