Georgian FM ‘sparing no effort' to ensure return of Georgian doctor from Tskhinvali custody
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces on November 9.
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The Georgian Foreign Ministry announced yesterday they are doing their best to ensure the safe return of Vazha Gaprindashvili, a doctor who was recently sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by de facto Tskhinvali authorities.
The ministry said that the detention of a well-known Georgian doctor and traumatologist points at “alarming human rights situation” in the Russian-occupied Georgian regions.
We are concerned by the recent frequent provocative activities of occupation regime. Such activities further aggravate the existing grave security and humanitarian situation on the ground”, the ministry announced.
The ministry also noted that the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) and co-chairs of Geneva International Discussions (GIDs) have been informed of Gaprindashvili’s detention.
Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze also called for immediate release of the Georgian doctor “from illegal detention”. Talakvadze wrote on his Facebook yesterday that “it is unimaginable evil to detain a doctor, who assists people in need”.
It is unacceptable for us and I am sure that it is also unacceptable for our Ossetian brothers... By detaining a doctor, the occupation regime has again distanced itself from human values”, Talakvadze wrote.
Georgian Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili also said after visiting Gaprindashvili’s family in Tbilisi that the government spares no efforts to ensure safety of its citizens in the existing “difficult environment”.
Thank you @usingeo for your steadfast support!
— Keti Tsikhelashvili (@TsikhelashviliK) November 17, 2019
In this very difficult circumstances government of Georgia is doing its utmost to protect safety and interests of our citizens. Immediate release of Doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili is our main priority! https://t.co/gpg8v3UbA8
Earlier this week, Tsikhelashvili briefed the OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella of Gaprindashvili's "continued detention".
Montella hoped for "a speedy resolution" of the issue urging to make full use of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) and GIDs "as mechanisms to prevent incidents and seek solutions".
Thank you @robertomontella @oscepa SG for support!
— Keti Tsikhelashvili (@TsikhelashviliK) November 16, 2019
Secretary General Montella receives Georgian Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Tsikhelashvili https://t.co/xNOYD5NNEJ via @oscepa pic.twitter.com/EUBDqXjX6B
A number of officials and organisations, including President Salome Zurabishvili and the United States Embassy to Georgia, have expressed their support to Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was reportedly visiting a patient when he was abducted.
Doctors plan to hold a demonstration at 12 p.m. on Monday, November 18 in front of their workplaces to protest the illegal detention of their colleague.
The United States Embassy to Georgia calls for “the immediate release” of Vazha Gaprindashvili, a well-known Georgian doctor and traumatologist, who was sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by de facto Tskhinvali authorities yesterday.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili calls on the international community “to react with all possible means” to the detention of Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by Russian-controlled occupation forces yesterday.
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces on Saturday, has been sent to two-month pretrial detention, Radio Liberty reports, citing Gaprindashvili’s wife Tamila Lapanashvili. A local media and a de facto security agency of Tskhinvali also read that "Tskhinvali court has ruled against Gaprindashvili" and sent him to pretrial detention.
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces on Saturday, has been charged with “deliberately crossing the border” by de facto Tskhinvali, while three other Georgian citizens illegally detained between November 9 and 11 have been released.
Georgian State Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili said Vazha Gaprindashvili, a doctor who was recently sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by de facto Tskhinvali authorities, will be released in a few days.
Doctors around the country have rallied earlier today to demand an immediate release of a famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili who was abducted by occupation forces on November 9.
The family of a famous Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was abducted by occupation forces on November 9, has told the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) that the health condition of the doctor is satisfactory and he has faced no mistreatment in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region.
The so-called security committee of Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region says that illegally detained famous Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili “actively participated” in the Russia-Georgia 2008 war as the “captain of the military medical service of the Georgian Armed Forces.”
Co-chairs of Geneva International Discussions (GIDs) from the European Union, United Nations and OSCE, Toivo Klaar, Cihan Sultanoğlu and Rudolf Michalka met with Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani in Tbilisi after travelling to Tskhinvali earlier today.
Illegal detention and sentencing of a Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili in the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) was the key issue raised at the 50th Geneva International Discussions on December 10-11.
A so-called district court in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district has left a well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili in pretrial detention “for deliberately crossing the border” to occupied Tskhinvali region more than a month ago. The closed court session was held in Akhalgori earlier today, shortly after the Geneva International Discussions where the issue was raised.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has again called on the international community to “strengthen their efforts” to ensure “the immediate release” of Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili from Tskhinvali custody.
International community has welcomed the release of well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili from Tskhinvali prison. Gaprindashvili, who was sentenced to one year and nine months in Tskhinvali prison, was released earlier today.