Georgia demands Tatunashvili’s internal organs from Russia-controlled Tskhinvali

The government of Georgia representatives demanded the handover of Archil Tatunashvili’s internal organs  during the 86th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting  in Ergneti village yesterday.

The talks kicked off at 11 am and lasted until 9 pm. However, a representative of de facto Tskhinvali Murat Jioev stated after the meeting that "Tatunashvili was not tortured at all.”

The government of Georgia says that the body of Tatunashvili, who was transferred toTbilisi-administered territory only  after about a month after his death, was tortured and several internal organs were removed, which made it impossible to clarify the real reason of death.

A special attention was paid to the case of Davit Basharuli, who died in uncertain circumstances in the occupied Akhalgori district in 2014, the Georgian Ministry of Reconciliation and Civil Equality reported.

The participants also discussed illegal arrests of citizens of Georgia and the recent incidents in the occupied region and surrounding territories.

 IPRM meetings are facilitated by the OSCE and EU representatives. Photo: Georgia's State Security Service press office. 

Overall, 19 questions were discussed during the meeting,” the Georgian Ministry of Reconciliation and Civil Equality stated.  

Jioev said after the meeting that since March 1, the de facto leadership of Tskhinvali detained 13 citizens of Georgia for illegally crossing the so-called border.

We had a serious conversation about the occasion when on May 6th, representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church wanted to hold a liturgy in the church near the village of Adzisari (Adzvi).

We explained that it is inadmissible, because it is a violation of the state border. We explained to the representatives of the OSCE Mission in Georgia that such actions should be assessed as provocations," Jioev said.

• IPRM was created in February 2009 as a result of the Geneva Discussions that followed the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
• The meetings are co-facilitated by the OSCE and the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM).
• The Central Government of Georgia is presented at the meetings with the representatives of the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality and the State Security Service.
• The next IPRM meeting will take place in Ergneti on 7 June 2018.