A coffin with purported remains of Georgia’s president who was overthrown in 1992 and died the following year under mysterious circumstances was unearthed Saturday in the Chechen capital, his son said, the Associated Press reported March 5.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected as Georgia’s first president in 1991 but was overthrown in a popular uprising in January 1992. He fled to Chechnya, where he was friends with local leaders, then returned to Georgia where he led an unsuccessful rebellion aimed at returning to power.

Valery Kuznetsov, top prosecutor of Russia’s republic of Chechnya bordering Georgia, said the coffin had been found near a residence, which late Dzhokhar Dudayev, the first Chechen president and separatist leader, had given Gamsakhurdia as a present.

The prosecutor said the coffin would be taken to the forensic department and then they would decide on identifying the remains and starting a criminal investigation.

The son of the late Georgian leader, Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, said he was sure the remains belonged to his father and the body would be reburied after all the necessary examinations on Georgian soil. “I don’t care whether Georgian authorities will pay the honors to my father or not. I will bury him on his soil,” he said.

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