Timur Tskhovrebov

Timur Tskhovrebov is a journalist, politician, and civil rights activist from the disputed state of South Ossetia, which the international community recognizes as part of Georgia. Known for being a staunch member of the opposition, Tskhovrebov campaigns against the South Ossetian government and the Russian presence in the country, which he argues has subverted the sovereignty of the Ossetian people.

Biography Tskhovrebov first entered the public sphere in South Ossetia when he, a local tomato farmer, organized a ten-man Ossetian militia during the First Ossetian War, bribing Soviet personnel to loot military warehouses, using the surplus equipment to trade for civilian goods and luxuries in North Ossetia.

After the war, Tskhovrebov became an independent journalist and editor of the opposition newspaper The XXI Seculare, who also led an unofficial union of veterans from the First Ossetian War who announced his intention to form a new political party in May 2009, shortly after the People's Party suffered it's hostile takeover. Holly Cartner, the then director of the HRW's Europe and Central Asian affairs, stated that "[The HRW is] appalled by the attack on Tskhovrebov and deeply concerned about the safety of activists in South Ossetia," and called for an investigation into the incident.

Starting in 2009, in preparation for the 2012 South Ossetian presidential election and the 2014 South Ossetian parliamentary election Tskhovrebov, besides trying to make his own party, was deeply involved in political action groups across the country to generally increase the number of political parties within the country, stating that due to South Ossetia's loyalty to Russia, unlike other separatist Republics, should warrant South Ossetia more political freedom to choose its own politician from more than the approved Kremlin backed party, or from the old tradition of every politician in South Ossetia either being an Independent, or a member of the Communist Party of South Ossetia.

In 2018 Tskhovrebov led a movement demanding more domestic Industry in South Ossetia, which is almost wholly reliant from imports from Russia. Tskhovrebov fears that should the Russian state run out of usefulness for the South Ossetian state, that Russia will stop propping up the South Ossetian economy, and that a domestic manufacturing capacity would negate both Russian domination of the market, as well as reduce shortages.