Two kidnappings near occupation line
Priest and shepherd detained in Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia)
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A priest was detained by Russia-controlled guards of the occupying forces near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) in Georgia’s Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) early morning today.
Ioane Okhanashvili is the pastor of Saint Georgia’s Church in the village Dirbi, located a few kilometres away from the South Ossetian ABL.
The news about the other detention came from the village of Tsitelubani. The shepherd Teimuraz Dudashvili was taken by force to Tskhinvali by Russian border guards, according to his neighbours.
Georgia’s State Security Service confirmed the kidnapping and stated that the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) has been informed about the cases and the hot line has been activated.
The EUMM enacts the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism telephone hotline in such cases in order to gather information from its patrols along the Administrative Boundary Lines of occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russian occupation forces detained 126 Georgian citizens for "illegally crossing” the so-called border in occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) last year, while there were 52 detentions in the Abkhazia region.
The EU monitoring mission has been informed about the incident and the hot line is enacted, the State Security Service said today.
The Russia-controlled so-called border guards have detained Georgian citizen David Chalauri near the occupation line with Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali region today.
The United States calls for an immediate halt to the ongoing illegal detentions of Georgian citizens by de facto and Russian authorities along the administrative boundary lines with the Russian-occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region has started digging of anti-fire ditches near the occupation lines, which separate the breakaway territory from the rest of Georgia.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region has released a Georgian citizen Temur Dudashvili, who was illegally detained by the Russia-controlled so-called border guards yesterday.
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The Russia-controlled Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) leadership has released a 16-year-old Georgian teenager detained for so-called illegally crossing the border on June 30, near the occupation line with the village of Tchvrinisi, the Georgian State Security Service confirmed.
The Russia-controlled border guards have abducted a 28-year-old Georgian citizen Paata Arakelov in the village of Akhrisi, Gori municipality, near the occupation line with the country’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, the Radio Liberty says.
The Russia-controlled border guards have released a Georgian citizen Paata Arakelov, who was abducted for crossing of so-called border with the Georgian occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on July 6.