Georgian man abducted from church near de-facto Tskhinvali

Since 2009 more than 2,000 Georgian citizens have been kidnapped at the Administrative Boundary Line near Georgia’s occupied territories. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Agenda.ge, 05 Jan 2016 - 15:20, Tbilisi,Georgia

Russian occupant forces and the de-facto Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) representatives abducted a Georgian man form the so-called Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) for "illegal crossing of border.” 

A resident of Bershueti village of the eastern Gori region, Lasha Glurjidze, was kidnapped when he intended to walk in a church to light a candle located on the area currently controlled by the Georgian side. 

Glurjidze was with his friend Saba Sekhniahsvili, who managed to escape. 

Sekhniahsvili recalled that eight armed men appeared when they arrived at the church door and they took Glurjidze allegedly to the Tskhinvali detention facility. 

No one has yet contacted the family to pay fine for the release of the man, as it generally happens. 

The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), the only monitoring mission in Georgia, told the Agenda.ge today that they "unfortunately” had no information concerning Glurjidze’s release. 

Locals have stated that Glurjidze had not crossed the ABL and was abducted from the area under the Georgian control.