Georgian citizens illegally detained by occupation forces released

Georgian citizens illegally detained on Monday by de facto authorities of central Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region were released on Friday, the State Security Service said.

Tamaz Etsadashvili, Otar Terashvili and Valeri Giunashvili had been arrested adjacent to the villages of Zemo Artsevi and Otrevi in central Georgia’s Gori municipality, with the Service saying it had used the hotline designed for information exchange along the occupation line and “all relevant mechanisms at the disposal” of the Government to ensure their release.

The state body said the Government provided information about the incident to its international partners on a “permanent basis”.

The body also added the Government and its international partners continued to “work for the release of all illegally detained Georgian citizens” from the de facto authorities’ custody.