Six men detained near occupation line

This is the fifth illegal detention of Georgian citizens by Russian border guards in recent days in Tskhinvali region.
Agenda.ge, 02 May 2014 - 18:27, Tbilisi,Georgia

Six Georgian citizens have been detained by Russian forces near the occupation line of so-called South Ossetia.

This marked the fifth incident of unlawful detention of Georgian citizens by Russian border guards in the region in recent days.

All of the six men were taken today from the Jvari village of the Sachkhere municipality.

The Interior Ministry of Georgia said they were currently trying to find out the location of the detained men.

"We believe they were taken to Tskhinvali,” said the Ministry’s Information-Analytical Department deputy head Davit Kobakhidze.

He claimed the Ministry used all its resources, including informing the European Union’s Monitoring Mission in Georgia, about the incident.

"We now hope to get more information through the Mission’s hotline,” Kobakhidze said.

The men were locals of the villages Korbouli and Skhvitori and were gathering capers in the forest near the occupation line in the Jvari village when they were unlawfully detained.

They were believed to be arrested for "illegally crossing the border”.

In previous cases, all Georgian detainees were released after paying fines.