Kakhaber Natadze, 44, and Vladimer Kaniashvili, 38, arrested illegally by the Russian occupation forces on December 10 near the village of Tsinagara for ‘illegally crossing the border’, have been denied bail by the so-called Tskhinvali court, RFE/RL's Georgian service reports.
Natadze and Kaniashvili are currently in Russian-occupied Tskhinvali prison awaiting trial.
The so-called State Security Committee of South Ossetia reported yesterday that along with ‘illegal border crossing’, one of the accused has been charged with drug smuggling.
Russian occupation forces arrested three Georgian citizens last week overall, including former soldier Mamuka Chkhikvadze near Zemo Nikozi village in Gori municipality on December 12.
Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will visit Chkhikvadze, as it is the only international organisation allowed inside Tskhinvali prison.
The State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia reports that the hotline of the European Union monitoring mission (EUMM) in Georgia has been activated and co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions involved in the process.
The illegal arrest of Georgian citizens is a common issue near the occupation line. Usually, those arrested are released once their families pay a fine.
Russia declared the independence of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on August 26, 2008, following the Russia-Georgia war.
However, only four other countries – Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria – share Russia’s position regarding the occupied Georgian territories’ status, while the whole international community states that the regions are occupied by Russia.