Georgian man arrested for allegedly joining ISIS
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A Georgian citizen has been arrested for having alleged links with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and supporting terrorism.
Georgian police detained Davit Borchashvili, 29, a resident of Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, when he arrived in Tbilisi International Airport from Turkey last night.
The Counterterrorist Centre of the State Security Service of Georgia said the man was arrested for "joining or assisting a foreign terrorist organisation”.
After Borchashvili was detained he was taken to hospital for treatment of an earlier leg injury.
He is due to be officially convicted of being involved in a terrorist organisation later today.
The case was labeled as secret so no further details were released.
Borchashvili’s family said he lived and worked in Turkey and he had never been to Syria.
On November 21 two YouTube videos were uploaded on the internet showing a man who looked like Borchashvili alongside armed men.
One video showed him armed, sitting in a car with several other men while the other video showed him attending a funeral of another fighter.
The videos were uploaded by unidentified users ‘Pankiski’ and ‘Al Shishani’.
Borchashvili’s lawyer said his client had gone to Syria but he had no connection with ISIS or any other terrorist organisation.
"The group he had a connection with fights against [Syrian president Bashar] Al-Assad’s regime and the Islamic State too. It is a free army of Syria, which is supported by democratic western states,” the lawyer said.
The Pankisi Gorge is a valley mainly inhabited by the Kist sub-ethnos in northeastern Georgia that borders the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation. The area once sheltered rebels from the Russians during the Chechen wars.
The Pankisi Gorge remained to be one of the most challenging areas of Georgia. In 2003 it was a place of major military engagement where a special operation involving police and US-trained special forces were required to repress the threats of Al-Qaeda.
The Gorge is also home to Tarkhan Batirashvili - also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani, a military leader of ISIS.
Reportedly, dozens of male and female youth have left Pankisi to join ISIS.
Four Georgian citizens have been arrested for joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and supporting terrorism.
Georgian citizens will be sent to prison if they join or train with illegal military groups abroad, officials say.
Youth living in the Pankisi Gorge, a challenging region of Georgia, will be able to develop their photography skills with help from one of the country’s leading photographers.
The President Adviser in ethnical minority issues has visited the Pankisi Gorge, a valley mainly inhabited by the Kist sub-ethnos in northeastern Georgia that bordered the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation today.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today met with members of the Council of Elders of the Pankisi Gorge, a valley in northeastern Georgia that bordered the Chechnyan republic of the Russian Federation, today.
The Georgian State Security Service has started to investigate a video uploaded on the internet in the name of Islamic State yesterday. The message contained threats to Georgia and its people. The State Security Service called on local media not to circulate the video citing national security reasons.
Four Georgian citizens have been detained for allegedly supporting the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group after police found ISIS flags, guns, hand grenades and other evidence at their homes. Police alleged the seized items showed the men supported the terrorist organisation’s ideology.
A young Georgian man has pled guilty to spreading a message online that incited violence and contained a threat of terrorism, and could now face a prison sentence of six to 11 years.
Tbilisi City Court sentenced a Georgian man to 12 years in prison for being a member of a terrorist organisation and participating in terrorist activities.
Seven people have been arrested and charged with attempting to carry out terror-related crimes in Georgia. Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) has prevented a terror attack in Georgia, which aimed to set off five explosions along a Russia-Armenia gas pipeline that passed through Georgian soil.