Georgian citizen released by Russian occupation forces recounts details of killing of fellow national

Levan Dotiashvili, a Georgian citizen who was released on Thursday after being illegally detained by the Russian-controlled occupation forces in central Georgia following an incident that led to the killing of Tamaz Ginturi, another national of the country, on Friday recounted details of the incident.

Dotiashvili told the local media the de facto authorities in the territory of central Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region had shot at a car carrying the two citizens from a vehicle.

“Many shots were fired. After the shooting, seven [Russian] soldiers came out after five to six minutes, and took me in the direction of the forest”, Dotiashvili said.

In his comments over the accident, Dotiashvili said he was physically assaulted while being illegally arrested by the Russian occupation forces.

They were shooting [purposefully] at us from the car - first they shot at the tires and then there was targeted shooting. We were sitting in the car, [and] maybe they called at us not to move, [but] at least we did not hear it. A lot of shots were fired”, he noted.

Dotiashvili added Ginturi had been hit in his back during the shooting, before he was pronounced dead in the incident that saw an outcry by Georgian officials and international partners of the country. 

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze on Friday said the domestic authorities were doing “their best” to identify the persons who had committed “this heinous crime”.