Two Georgian citizens illegally detained by Russian occupation forces released

Two Georgian citizens illegally detained by Russian occupation forces near the administrative line separating the central Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the rest of the country were released on Wednesday, the State Security Service of Georgia said.

Tamaz Psitidze and Zurab Petriashvili had been arrested in the Gori municipality village of Akhalubani on Tuesday, with the Service saying it had used the hotline designed for information exchange along the occupation line and “all mechanisms at the disposal” of the Government to ensure their release.

Their release was “regularly discussed” in the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism format for meetings between Georgian officials and de facto authorities in the occupied region, with relevant information provided to the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Discussions on conflicts on the Georgian territory.

The European Union Monitoring mission in Georgia was also “directly involved” in reacting to the incident, the Service added.