FM Zalklaiani discusses Georgian doctor’s detention in occupied Tskhinvali with OSCE chair
Minister Zalkaliani (R) said that “”illegal detention” of doctor Gaprindashvili has been among the key issues of discussions during the OSCE Ministerial. Photo: Georgian Foreign Ministry
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Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani met with the Chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak in Bratislava, Slovakia on the sidelines of the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council yesterday.
At the meeting Zalkaliani and Lajcak discussed the grave security and humanitarian situation in the two Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
In particular, they spoke on the recent detention and sentencing of a Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who has been sent to two-month pretrial detention in occupied Tskhinvali.
Met with @DZalkaliani, Foreign Minister of #Georgia, on the margins #OSCEMC19 to speak about how to improve the situation of people on the ground. We stressed the need for freedom of movement! pic.twitter.com/flu58oMDNW
— Miroslav Lajčák (@MiroslavLajcak) December 6, 2019
Minister Zalkaliani said that “”illegal detention” of doctor Gaprindashvili has been among the key issues of discussions during the OSCE Ministerial.
FM Zalkaliani said the whole international community has been informed and foreign dignitaries are acting within their capacities to contribute to his “immediate release”.
There are certain positive signs that he should be released pretty soon and we are expecting that this will happen very soon and quick”, Zalkaliani stated.
Everyone should understand that the freedom of movement is a fundamental human right that cannot be restricted”, he added.
He hoped that the active engagement of the international community would yield its results and Vazha Gaprindashvili would return to his family as soon as possible.
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces in early November, has been sent to two-month pretrial detention.
The doctor was illegally detained near the village of Orchosani [under Russian control] on November 9 and was charged with “deliberately crossing the border" with Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region.
A number of officials and organisations, including Georgian 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.