Red Cross visits Georgian man detained in occupied Tskhinvali
Zaza Gakheladze, 33, a resident of the central Georgian village of Kvemo Tchala in Kaspi municipality, was shot and detained on July 11. Photo courtesy
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A Georgian man detained by occupation forces near the Russia-occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) in July has sent a letter to his family via the International Committee of the Red Cross earlier today.
Representatives of the Red Cross in occupied Tskhinvali had been trying to meet with Georgian detainees for over two months but de facto authorities did not allow them to meet.
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However, after their recent meeting with de facto Tskhinvali leader Anatoly Bibilov, the Red Cross representatives managed to meet Khvicha Mghebrishvili on September 3 and Zaza Gakheladze on September 8.
Both Gakheladze and Mghebrishvili were illegally detained by occupation forces in early July causing wide public outcry in Georgia and abroad.
Family members of Khvicha Mghebrishvili, who was abducted by occupation forces near the administrative line bordering the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on July 3, have urged the government of Georgia to take more effective steps to secure the release of their family member.
Georgian officials have expressed their concern that Georgian citizen Khvicha Mghebrishvili has been recently sentenced to three months of pretrial detention by a so-called court in the Russia-occupied Tskhinvali region.
The US Department of States has strongly condemned the shooting and illegal detention of Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze, 33, by the Russian-controlled occupation forces on July 11.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has "categorically condemned" the shooting and arrest of a Georgian citizen near the administrative line dividing the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the Georgian-controlled territory on Saturday, demanding the injured person be returned by the de-facto authorities.
The father, wife and daughters of Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze - illegally detained and sentenced by the Russia-backed occupying forces - have visited him in occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) jail with the support of International Committee of the Red Cross.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili who met with the family of Zaza Gakheladze, a Georgian citizen illegally detained and sentenced by the Russia-backed occupying forces in Tskhinvali, said the government spares no efforts to release him as soon as possible.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili held a meeting with Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), earlier today in Tbilisi and thanked him and the organisation for their ‘important work’ in Georgia, in the country’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, and along the line of occupation.
The Georgian government has welcomed the decision of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to build a logistical hub of regional importance in Georgia, in the city of Rustavi, which will incorporate warehouses and a training center.