De facto Tskhinvali hands over Basharuli’s body to Georgian side

The body of a 19-year-old Georgian man who went missing in Akhalgori town in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region nine months ago has finally returned home.

The de facto government of Tskhinvali handed over the remains of Davit Basharuli to the Georgian side at the entrance of Akhalgori, near the Akhmaji checkpoint earlier today.

Basharuli’s family had been waiting for this day for the past two months after the body was found near Akhalgori.

The dead body of the 19-year-old was hanging on a tree when local residents found it near the area between Akhalgori and the Ikoti village at the beginning of January. The discovery of the body came about seven months after the man went missing.

Today, Basharuli's mother said her son was beaten to death at the Akhalgori police building nine months ago.

"I do not know anything else. The Ossetian side conducted an examination but we do not know the results. Now the Georgian side will examine the body and the cause of his death will be determined,” she said.

Basharuli disappeared from Akhalgori about nine months ago.

On June 4, 2014, he was summoned to Akhalgori police station for an alleged minor crime. He was last seen at the police station. Local people then said they believed he was physically abused there.

Human kidnapping is a common crime at the administrative border of Georgia and Georgia's breakaway Tskhinvali region.