De-facto Abkhazian officials detained a Georgian citizen

A Georgian citizen was detained by the de-facto Abkhazia’s law enforcement agencies representatives on December 28.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said a man, west Georgia resident Paata Todua was detained across the so called breakaway region Abkhazia’s administrative border who is also the representative of the Interior Ministry.

"Todua is an internally displaced person from Abkhazia and works as a driver at the Ministry. His father still lives in Ochamchire, a city in Abkhazia and he had expected to visit him and give New Year gifts,” said Shalva Enukidze, the Head of the Analytical Department at the Interior Ministry.

The Interior Ministry said the de-facto officials confirmed that the man was detained for illegally crossing the border.

European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia is already informed about the case. A hotline is also operating.

Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet has the information of his whereabouts and the expected date of release.