Tbilisi demands release of illegally detained citizens at meeting with de facto Tskhinvali ‘officials’
The Ergneti Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings have resumed earlier today. Photo: EUMM Georgia.
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The central Georgian government has demanded the release of illegally detained and convicted Georgian citizens at the Ergneti Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting earlier today.
IPRM meetings with the representatives of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region have resumed today after a five-month pause.
The central Georgian government representatives said that the de facto government is ready to continue consultations on the cases of illegally detained individuals.
They said that ‘we are unable now to name the date when the individuals will be released.’
The representatives of the de facto government have once again demanded the closure of the Chorchana-Tsnelisi police post.
They continue to say that the post, which is on the Tbilisi-controlled territory, poses threats to 'South Ossetia’s (Tskhinvali) security.’
The following IPRM meeting was scheduled on April 23.
Genadi Bestaev, a Georgian citizen who was illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces in November 2019 for 'illegally crossing the border and possession of drugs', was sentenced to three years in prison by the so-called Tskhinvali court on March 2, 2021.
Another Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze, who was shot and illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces in the summer of 2020, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison by the de facto Supreme Court of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region in February 2021.
Genadi Bestaev, illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces in November 2019 for 'illegally crossing the border and possession of drugs', has been sentenced to three years in prison by the so-called Tskhinvali court, reports the State Security Service of Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated earlier today that the Georgian government, with the country’s strategic partners, will take concrete steps in the coming days to secure the release of illegally detained and convicted Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze by Russian-controlled occupation forces. “I have had constant communication and negotiations with our strategic partners and in the coming days we will take concrete steps to help our citizen,” Gakharia said.
Democracy Research Institute (DRI) NGO has reported that 51-year-old Georgian citizen Genadi Bestayev has been illegally sentenced to two years in prison in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region for ‘illegally crossing the border and possession of drugs.’
Members of the central Georgian government and the de facto Tskhinvali leadership have held a four-hour meeting in the village of Ergneti earlier today to once again discuss the fate of the Georgian police checkpoint in the village of Chorchana in Khashuri municipality, near the occupation line on Tbilisi-administered territory.