Reconciliation Minister meets wife of Georgian prisoner held in Abkhazian prison

The State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, met with the wife of a Georgian man imprisoned in an Abkhazian prison facility last night.

Tsikhelashvili provided Lali Basria with the latest information on her husband, Giorgi Lukava, who is illegally held in Dranda Prison in Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia.

Lukava has been sentenced by a de facto court of breakaway Abkhazia to life imprisonment. His wife began a hunger strike five days ago, demanding from the Government of Georgia to make efforts to free Lukava from illegal detention.

Tsikhelashvili told Basria that the Government was sparing no effort to free her husband and asked her to stop her hunger strike.

"According to the information [received through the European Monitoring Mission (EUMM) hotline], Giorgi Lukava’s life isn’t under danger. His health condition is satisfactory. I provided his wife with this information. I told her in person that all state agencies are doing their best to free him”, Tsikhelashvili said.

She added that many of Georgia’s international partners have already been informed about the case and all relevant mechanisms have been activated.