Ten Georgians released from illegal detention in Russian-occupied Tskhinvali

Ten Georgian citizens who were illegally detained by Russian soldiers near the occupation line have been released.

The 10 people were released from their illegal detention at 6.20pm on Tuesday. All 10 were arrested in recent days for allegedly crossing the so-called "illegal border” at the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Georgia and Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.

The European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) and Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs were actively involved in the negotiation process to release the citizens from Tskhinvali.

The detention of Georgian citizens near the ABL is common, especially in spring and summer when local residents follow their grazing cattle or go to the forest to pick "jonjoli” (a variety of capers), mushrooms or wood. It is not always obvious where the occupation line is, as Russian keeps changing the so-called borders, which is informally known as ‘creeping occupation’.

Russian border guards have installed barbed wire fences through several Georgian villages. They will arrest any person who, intentionally or not, attempted to cross this so-called border. When people are detained, the families must pay a ransom to ensure their loved one is removed from the Tskhinvali prison.

Read more about how people live in the conflict zone here.