Three Georgian citizens arrested by Russian border troops near South Ossetia
Three Georgian citizens have been detained by Russian troops near the village of Khurvaleti, near Gori, Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) reported on Tuesday. One of those detained was later released to Tbilisi-controlled territory.
The SSG noted that as soon as information had been received regarding the incident, they activated a ‘hotline’ with the participation of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia. The co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions, talks to deal with the end results of the 2008 August War, and other international partners were also informed.
‘All existing mechanisms have been implemented to release illegally detained Georgian citizens in the shortest possible time’, the SSG’s statement read.
‘The responsibility for all destructive acts committed in the occupied territories of Georgia, as well as along the occupation line, lies with the occupying power’, the statement concluded.
No details were provided as to the identities of those detained.
Detentions and other incidents involving Georgian citizens and Russian troops in or near South Ossetia are not an infrequent occurrence.
In April, South Ossetia’s security services, the KGB, reported that ‘15 violators of established legal regimes were detained at various sections of the state border of South Ossetia’.
‘For each violation of legal regimes, the border service of the State Security Committee conducted investigations, as a result of which ten people were subject to an administrative fine, one was expelled from the republic without penalties, two violators were given warnings, and administrative proceedings were terminated for two more’, the KGB stated.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
Nate Ostiller
