EU Special Representative for South Caucasus concerned about death of Georgian citizen in occupied Tskhinvali

The European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar is concerned about the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in the country’s Russian occupied Tskhinvali region.

Klaar believes the upcoming Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting scheduled on March 1 is the right format to establish facts about the case.

Very concerned about death in custody in Tskhinvali of GEO citizen Archil Tatunashvili. EUMM hotline was activated and upcoming IPRM right format to establish facts

— Toivo Klaar (@ToivoKlaar) February 23, 2018

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.

The Georgian State Security Service has reported that Archil Tatunashvili, Levan Kutashvili and Ioseb Pavliashvili were illegally detained by occupying forces in the Akhalgori region of Georgia the day before yesterday.

According to the Local Governor of Akhalgori Nugzar Tinikashvili, the three had been travelling along the occupation line in the past couple of years to sell fruits and vegetables, however, never faced any obstacles before.

• Read also: Gov’t demands details on death of Georgian citizen in occupied Tskhinvali

The Georgian Public Defender’s Office believes when Tatunashvili was taken to the hospital he was already dead.

Public Defender Nino Lomjaria called upon the occupation forces to immediately give Tatunashvili’s body to the Georgian Government to carry out a medical analysis and define the date and reasons of his death.

Georgian Foreign Ministry also condemned the occupation forces for their criminal activities that ended with the death of Tatunashvili and the illegal detention of Kutashvili and Pavliashvili.

MFA condemns the death of Archil Tatunashvili followed after unlawful activities of the occupation regime. Such illegal actions,victims of which become Georgian citizens,reveals the necessity of immediate creation of international mechanisms on the ground https://t.co/yi2JOl7eeRpic.twitter.com/ien2TRWKD5

— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) February 23, 2018

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili went to Tatunashvili’s family to offer his condolence yesterday.

Extended my condolences to the family of Archil Tatunashvili, Our brother in arms, a Georgian soldier who served global peace and security for several years has been killed on the occupied territory. Another sad page in the occupation history! pic.twitter.com/RQisRcRofd

— President Of Georgia (@MargvelashviliG) February 23, 2018

Tskhinvali media reported that 35-year-old Tatunashvili was detained in Akhalgori for "cooperating with Georgian law enforcers and participating in the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.”

They claimed that after being interrogated, law enforcers tried to move Tatunashvili to a detention facility, who "resisted and tried to seize a weapon from a guard.”

Georgian media reports that during the August War of 2008 Tatunashvili was serving in a peace-keeping misison in Iraq.