President Zurabishvili calls for Georgian doctor’s ‘immediate release’ from Tskhinvali custody
President Zurabishvili earlier called on the international community “to react with all possible means” to the detention of a Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili on November 15. Photo: Freedom for Doctor Vazha/Facebook
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Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has again called on the international community to “strengthen their efforts” to ensure “the immediate release” of Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili from Tskhinvali custody.
A so-called district court in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district left Gaprindashvili in pretrial detention “for deliberately crossing the border” to occupied Tskhinvali region yesterday.
Despite a number attempts and active engagement of the international community, the illegally detained doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili was left in detention: Zurabishvili said.
She further noted that this worsens the existing grave situation in occupied Tskhinvali.
President Zurabishvili earlier called on the international community “to react with all possible means” to the detention of a Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili on November 15.
Vazha Gaprindashvili was abducted on November 9 and was sent to illegal, two-month pretrial detention on November 15.
De facto Tskhinvali is demanding Gaprindashvili admit he “illegally crossed the border” between occupied Tskhinvali and the rest of Georgia, which the doctor refuses to do, saying Tskhinvali is part of Georgia.
Meanwhile, the family and friends of Gaprindashvili plan to hold a peaceful demonstration near the occupation line in solidarity with the detained doctor.
A so-called district court in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district has left a well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili in pretrial detention “for deliberately crossing the border” to occupied Tskhinvali region more than a month ago. The closed court session was held in Akhalgori earlier today, shortly after the Geneva International Discussions where the issue was raised.
Illegal detention and sentencing of a Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili in the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) was the key issue raised at the 50th Geneva International Discussions on December 10-11.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry announced yesterday they are doing their best to ensure the safe return of Vazha Gaprindashvili, a doctor who was recently sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by de facto Tskhinvali authorities. The ministry said that the detention of a well-known Georgian doctor and traumatologist points at “alarming human rights situation” in the Russian-occupied Georgian regions.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili calls on the international community “to react with all possible means” to the detention of Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by Russian-controlled occupation forces yesterday.
Family and friends of Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili are holding a peaceful demonstration near the occupation line a month after he was sent to two-month pretrial detention “for deliberately crossing the border” of the occupied Tskhinvali region.
The family of well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was abducted by Russian-controlled occupation forces on November 9, says that the Georgian government has created a coordination council composed of top state officials to take all measures for the release of the doctor from occupied Tskhinvali prison.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has detained four individuals earlier today after civic activists and opposition members tried to pitch a tent in the room of Tbilisi City Assembly member from the Georgian Dream ruling party Erekle Kukhianidze, who criticised and abused abducted doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili and his family in his Facebook post on December 13.
Karlo Taziashvili, 80, has been delivered to a hospital on Tbilisi-controlled territory from the Akhlalgori district of the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) yesterday.
The United States remains ‘especially concerned’ by the ongoing detention of Doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili [by Russian controlled occupation forces], and echoes ‘calls from across the international community’ for his immediate release, the US Mission to the OSCE reports.
The court in Georgia’s Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region has sentenced a well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili to one year and nine-months to prison for “deliberately crossing the border,” despite a large-scale local and international campaign for the release of the abducted doctor. The information has been released by head of Georgia’s Bar Association David Asatiani.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has condemned the decision of Russian controlled de facto Tskhinvali to sentence well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili to one year and nine months in prison and stated that the illegal detention was a “deliberate provocation.”
A number of foreign officials have denounced the Tskhinvali decision to sentence Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindahsvili to one year and nine-months to prison for “deliberately crossing the border” between occupied Tskhinvali and the rest of Georgia in early November.
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom and Germany to Georgia, Justin McKenzie Smith and Hubert Knirsch have expressed hope that Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who has been sentenced to one year and nine months to prison in Tskhinvali, will be released soon.