Georgian Villagers Protest in South Ossetian Conflict Zone

Residents of the Georgian village of Tamarasheni, in the South Ossetian conflict zone, blocked the road connecting the breakaway region?s capital of Tskhinvali with the northern part of the region in protest against, as they describe, the ?hand over? of Oleg Pukhaev to the South Ossetian side.

Oleg Pukhaev was arrested by Georgian police on January 19. He is suspected of killing two residents of Tamarasheni last February.

As a result of an agreement reached by the South Ossetian and Georgian sides on January 24, Tbilisi agreed to transfer Oleg Pukhaev to a detention cell of the Joint Peacekeeping Troops in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali and to jointly investigate, with the South Ossetian authorities, the murder case which Pukhaev is allegedly involved in. In return, the South Ossetian side released a Georgian policeman who was being detained by relatives of Pukhaev.

The residents of Tamarasheni village are protest this decision by Georgian authorities and are calling it an ?exchange of a criminal into a policeman.?

Mikheil Kareli, the Governor of Shida Kartli region, which also includes breakaway South Ossetia, told reporters that the protest of Tamarasheni residents ?is fair.?

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava said in an interview with Rustavi 2 television that an agreement over the transfer of Oleg Pukhaev to a detention cell of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, which involve Georgian, Ossetian and Russian troops, does not mean that a person who is suspected of a crime has been released. 

In another protest, which took place in the Georgian village of Kekhvi, also in the conflict zone, people are demanding the release of Eldar Kakhniashvili, who has been missing since last November.