Latest Ergneti talks discuss illegal activities along Russian occupation line

Georgian officials, representatives of international organisations and de-facto authorities from Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have gathered around the table in Ergneti to discuss issues that concern people living along the occupation line today.

It was the 83rd such meeting, the latest of the meetings known as the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM).

In a tent in the village of Ergneti, participants reviewed incidents and occurrences that have taken place in the period stretching from 16 November – 18 December: since the previous Ergneti meeting until yesterday.

Photo source: European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia / Facebook

The ongoing militarisation process and illegal military exercises held throughout 2017 in the occupied Tskhinvali region have also been in focus of today’s meeting.

"Particular attention was paid to problems that occurred due to the so-called "borderisation” process conducted in the vicinities of the occupation line and the necessity to investigate the case of Georgian national Giorgi Basharuli who went missing in 2014 and found dead afterwards”, the Georgian State Security Service said in a press release.

Illegal detentions of Georgian citizens along the occupation line were also on the agenda of the meeting. During the past month, two Georgians were illegally detained in occupied Tskhinvali and both of them were freed after their families paid 2,000 Russian roubles as ransom.

The next IPRM meeting will be held on January 24, 2018.