Working group created to help release abducted Georgian doctor

 A working group has been created by the family of well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili to help organize his release after he was abducted by Russian-controlled occupation forces on November 9, 2019.

• Russian-controlled Tskhinvali sentences Georgian doctor to almost two years in prison

 The working group will be coordinated by the director of the National Library of Georgia, writer Giorgi Kekelidze, and will include public relations specialists and active members of the public, the family has stated earlier today.  

 The group will be in “permanent cooperation” with state agencies, diplomatic corps, international organizations and the public “to take concrete steps towards the release of the doctor” from the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region of Georgia.

 The group will also organise “symbolic rallies against the abduction to remind the public about the importance of the issue,” the family said.

 The family has announced that at 7 pm today, writers, members of the Georgian church and ethnic minorities, members of the Council of Religions and the Council of Religious Minorities at the Georgian Public Defender’s Office will gather at the National Library in Tbilisi to protest the abduction and illegal conviction of the doctor.

Gaprindashvili was illegally sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on December 20, 2019 “for deliberately crossing the border.” 

• Georgian FM Zalkaliani condemns sentencing of abducted doctor, says abduction was “deliberate provocation’

Gaprindashvilli refuses to admit to “crossing the border,” saying that Tskhinvali is part of Georgia and is now occupied by Russia.