Oleg Khorzhan

Oleg Olegovich Khorzhan (Russian: Олег Олегович Хоржан; Romanian: Oleg Olegovici Horjan; 30 June 1976 – 16 July 2023) was a Transnistrian politician who served as the chairman of the Transnistrian Communist Party and as a member of Transnistria's Supreme Council.

Oleg Khorzhan
Олег Хоржан
Khorzhan in 2016
Leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party
In office
May 2003 – 19 May 2018[1]
Succeeded byNadezhda Bondarenko (acting)
Member of the Supreme Council of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
In office
2010–2018
Personal details
Born(1976-06-30)30 June 1976
Camenca, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
Died16 July 2023(2023-07-16) (aged 47)
Sucleia, Transnistria (Moldova)
Manner of deathAssassination (stab wounds)
Political partyTransnistrian Communist Party
Children2

In 2018, he was arrested and imprisoned for allegedly assaulting law enforcement during a political rally. He was released on 6 December 2022 after serving the entirety of his sentence. During his imprisonment, Khorzhan was considered a political prisoner by his supporters and the UCP–CPSU. On 16 July 2023, he was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant in his office.

Early life

Khorzhan was born on 30 June 1976 in the town of Camenca, in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union.[2]

Career

Early work

Khorzhan worked at the Dubăsari military hospital following the end of the Transnistria War in July 1992.[3] He joined the local communist party when he turned 18 and took an active role in the reconstruction of the party's youth wing.[3] In April 1995, he was elected to the Tiraspol City Council.[4] From 1997 to 2000, he served as chairman of the parliamentary legal commission. Khorzhan was later awarded an honorary diploma by City Council for his work.[3]

2000s

In May 2003, he joined the newly created Transnistrian Communist Party (PKP) and was elected its chairman after the original party leader was imprisoned.[3]

In March 2007, Khorzhan was arrested and detained for organizing a protest in Tiraspol against rising prices and taxes. He was subsequently sentenced to one and a half years of probation.[5]

2010s

In the 2010 parliamentary elections, Khorzhan became the first PKP candidate to be elected to the Supreme Council. During his first term he was assigned to the Committee on Education, Science and Culture.[3]

Khorzhan ran in the 2011 presidential election as an independent with the support of the PKP, and came in fourth with 5.09% of the vote.[6]

On the anniversary of Transnistria's founding in 2014, then-President Yevgeny Shevchuk awarded Khorzhan the medal "For Labor Valor".[7]

For his efforts in developing and strengthening relations between Transnistria and the other breakaway republic of South Ossetia, he was awarded an honorary diploma by the Parliament of South Ossetia. Khorzhan was also awarded the Order of Party Valor by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation for his work in Moscow.[8]

Khorzhan was elected again in the 2015 parliamentary elections, taking first place in the No. 40 constituency with 43.62% of the vote.[9][10]

Khorzhan ran for president again in the 2016 presidential election, this time as a PKP candidate. He placed third with 3.17% of the vote.[11]

2018 arrest and imprisonment

On 2 June 2018, Khorzhan held a rally in Tiraspol, at which, a number of attendees were detained by police.[12] Later that day in the evening, Khorzhan went to the city's internal affairs building to meet with the director and vouch for the detainees' release.[13] Police officers blocked him from entering the building and a physical altercation reportedly took place.[13] Khorzhan wrote a statement to the police afterwards, denouncing the police's actions as a disproportionate use of force and a violation of his rights as a member of the Supreme Council.[13] In turn, on the recommendation of head prosecutor Anatoly Guretsky, Khorzhan was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and arrested on 6 June 2018.[14] Several other party members had been arrested by authorities prior to Khorzhan,[13] including his wife, his son, and Tiraspol City Council deputy Alexander Samoniy.[15] Khorzhan's arrest was immediately met with condemnation from members of the UPC–CPSU, who denounced his detention as illegal and politically motivated.[13]

On 3 November 2018, the Supreme Court of Transnistria found Khorzan guilty of assaulting law enforcement and sentenced him to four and a half years in prison. He was also ordered to pay a hefty fine.[16] Moldovan President Igor Dodon expressed his disagreement with the ruling and urged the Moldovan prosecutor's office to respond, but no action was taken by the latter.[17]

Khorzhan was released from prison on 6 December 2022 after serving the entirety of his sentence.[18]

Personal life

Khorzhan was married and had two sons.[19]

Death

On the night of 16 July 2023, Khorzhan was found dead in his own office, having apparently been murdered.[4] The cause of death was reported as multiple stab wounds, with unverified reports emerging that Khorzhan had also been shot.[20] Khorzhan's body was discovered by his wife lying next to an empty safe.[21] The leader of the Civil Congress, Mark Tkachuk, wrote about Khorzhan's murder on social media. CPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov demanded an investigation into Khorzhan's murder.[22][23]

See also

References
  1. "Исполняющей обязанности Председателя ЦК ПКП назначена Н.А. Бондаренко". www.kp-pmr.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  2. "Олег Хоржан: «Вы спрашиваете, почему меня до сих пор не убили?!»". AVA.MD (in Russian). 14 April 2021. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  3. "Приднестровская Коммунистическая Партия - Руководство". www.kp-pmr.ru (in Russian). Transnistrian Communist Party. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  4. "В КПРФ сообщили об убийстве лидера компартии Приднестровья Олега Хоржана". РИА Новости (in Russian). 17 July 2023. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  5. "Глава компартии Приднестровья получил 4,5 года лишения свободы за призывы к саботажу на митинге". Рамблер/новости (in Russian). 2 November 2018. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  6. "Preliminary results of the Transnistrian presidential election on 11 December 2011" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 8 January 2012.
  7. "Республика чествует достойнейших граждан" (in Russian). vspmr.org. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  8. "Шевчук назначил КПРФ «другом» Приднестровья и принял от неё орден «Партийная доблесть»" (in Russian). regnum.ru. 3 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  9. "РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ ВЫБОРОВ ДЕПУТАТОВ ВЕРХОВНОГО СОВЕТА VI СОЗЫВА В ЦИФРАХ". cikpmr.com. 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  10. "О регистрации избранных депутатов Верховного Совета Приднестровской Молдавской Республики VI созыва" (in Russian). cikpmr.com. 2 December 2015. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  11. "ЦИК подвёл итоги выборов президента ПМР" (in Russian). novostipmr.com. 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  12. "Задержан приднестровский депутат Олег Хоржан" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  13. "Freedom to Oleg Khorzhan!". cprf.ru. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  14. Department, Emile Schepers, CPUSA International (13 July 2018). "International Notes: July 13". Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. "Приднестровские власти арестовали всех депутатов от оппозиции" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  16. "Лидера компартии Приднестровья приговорили к 4,5 годам тюрьмы". Regnum (in Russian). 3 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  17. "Додон натравливает генпрокуратуру Молдавии" (in Russian). regnum.ru. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  18. "В Приднестровье экс-депутат, активно выступающий против власти, вышел на свободу". EADaily (in Russian). 6 December 2022. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  19. "Биографии кандидатов на пост президента Приднестровья" (in Russian). tass.ru. 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  20. King, Chris (17 July 2023). "Putin's 'Moscow proxy' Head Of Transnistria Found Violently Murdered In His Home". Euro Weekly News. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  21. "Putin's puppet leader found dead at home in suspected murder". The News International. 17 July 2023.
  22. "В компартии России сообщили об убийстве лидера компартии Приднестровья Олега Хоржана" (in Russian). noi.md. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  23. Ryabkov, Leonid (17 July 2023). "Зверское убийство оппозиционного политика в Приднестровье: "Его зарезали дома, в рабочем кабинете"". KP.md. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
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