3 men detained at occupation line near Tskhinvali in 2 days
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Three men have been detained by so-called border guards near Georgia's Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) in two days.
So-called border guards detained Abesalom Kokolashvili in the village of Avlevi in Kareli region while he was grazing his cattle.
Witnesses said, so-called border guards attacked the men unexpectedly.
Kokolashvili has allegedly been detained for "illegally crossing the border” and taken to Tskhinvali jail.
Two locals of the village of Tsitelubani in the municipality of Gori, Vasil Bolotaevi and Tengiz Kajirovi, were also detained while grazing their cows near the occupation line yesterday.
Based on the preliminary information, they were taken to the Ossetian controlled territory. However, the local government said no exact location of the detainees has yet been revealed.
The illegal detention of Georgian citizens near the occupation line is a common issue, particularly in spring and summer when residents tend to grazing cattle or to pick jonjoli (a variety of capers), mushrooms and firewood.
It is not always obvious where the occupation line has been demarcated, because Russian occupation forces keep changing the so-called borders. This process is informally referred to as "creeping occupation”.
Two men have been detained by so-called border guards near the Russian occupied region of Georgia, Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) today.
United States (US) Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly has travelled to the occupation line where an illegal "border” marked by the Russian troops separates Georgian farmers from their agricultural lands.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed his concern over the developments in the Russian occupied regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Georgia’s Reconciliation Minister Ketevan Tsikhelashvili made a statement concerning the importance of the peaceful resolution of conflicts and stressed Georgia faces not a banner erected by occupants, but serious forces behind the banners.
The United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has published its 2016 report on Human Right and Democracy worldwide.
The Border Police of Georgian Interior Ministry has found a farmer who had been lost along the Georgian-Russian state border.
Representatives of Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs have met the members of the public movement Power is in Unity, who voiced their initiative over voluntary patrolling at the occupation line in order to protect the local people.