9 people kidnapped in 37 days near occupation line

An Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting is now underway in Ergneti village several kilometers away from the Russian occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), where security conditions along the occupation line are traditionally on the top of agenda.

Georgian Information-Analytical Department under the State Security Service reported that 9 people have been kidnapped since the last IPRM meeting in April. The six people have been released while one is about to be released in coming days.

The illegal detention of Georgian citizen Giorgi Giunashvili back in 2016 is also among the top issues of today’s discussion.

• Efforts underway to free Georgian citizen from illegal imprisonment in breakaway Tskhinvali

This year, an unrecognised court in Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region sentenced Giunashvili to 20 years imprisonment.

IPRM participant Kakha Kemoklidze, who is the Deputy Head of the Information-Analytical Department, demanded Giunashvili’s immediate release from detention.

The IPRM was created in February 2009 following the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict to address security concerns and ensure the protection of human rights in the occupied regions.