Georgian PM: ‘we are working 24 hours a day to release illegally detained doctor’
Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia says that the government, with the non-stop communication with international partners, is taking all possible steps to have Doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili released. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has stated that government agencies are working in a 24-hour regime to achieve the release of illegally detained famous Georgia doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili by occupation forces.
We are taking all steps for the release of the doctor in synchrony with our international partners,” Gakharia said, adding that “everyone should consider the specificity of the issue and think twice before spreading any information around the case.”
Gaprindashvili was abducted by occupation forces, near the Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region, on November 9 and has been sentenced to two-month pretrial detention for “deliberately crossing the border,” as the doctor refused to sign a paper which reads that he “crossed the border.”
Georgian State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has met with the family of Vazha Gaprindashvili for the second time earlier today, informing them regarding the government's steps taken for the release of the doctor.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has raised the issue with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, acting chair of OSCE Miroslav Lajcak, Deputy Secretary General of UN Rosemary DiCarlo and Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Geoana, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported yesterday.
A number of officials and organisations, including President Salome Zurabishvili and the United States Embassy to Georgia, have expressed their support to Gaprindashvili.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on November 16 that they are doing their best to ensure the safe return of the doctor.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has raised the issue of the abduction of famous Georgian doctor Vazha Gapridashvili with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, acting chair of OSCE Miroslav Lajcak, Deputy Secretary General of UN Rosemary DiCarlo and Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Geoana. "To put aside politics, the action is totally unacceptable from a humanitarian point of view,” Zalkaliani said.
Georgia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Kakha Imnadze has informed the United Nations Security Council about the human rights violations in the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, stressing that the Georgian side demands the release of illegally detained doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili “at once”.
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.
Former President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves has made a live address, demanding the release of a famous Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was abducted by occupation forces on November 9 and was illegally sentenced to two-month pretrial detention for “deliberately crossing the border” in the occupied Tskhinvali region.
The de facto security committee of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region says that famous Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was abducted by occupation forces on November 9, “deliberately crossed the border and the step was well-planned.”The de facto agency reports that during the interrogation Gaprindashvili said that he “deliberately crossed the border as he was going to the church in the village of Monastery.”
The US mission to OSCE has called upon for the “immediate release” of a well-known Georgian physician and president of the Association of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Georgia, Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was abducted by occupation forces on November 9 and has been sentenced to pretrial detention for “deliberately crossing the border.”
Indian students in Georgia have rallied to demand the immediate release of well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was abducted by Russian-controlled occupation forces on November 9.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani says that he is starting every meeting inside and outside the country by raising the topic of Vazha Gaprindashvili, a well-known Georgian doctor who was abducted by Russian-controlled occupation forces 19 days ago.