A small group of protesters, mainly the relatives of those four Georgians who went mission in the South Ossetian conflict zone on June 6, resumed a protest rally on July 16 by blocking the road at the Meghvrekisi village, near the Russian peacekeepers’ checkpoint, in the south of the unrecognized republic?s capital Tskhinvali.
Protesters, who were blocking the road to Tskhinvali on July 15 near the village of Ergneti, demand that the authorities in Tbilisi and Tskhinvali intensify search operations in order to find out the whereabouts of four men who disappeared early last month.
Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the conflict zone Marat Kulakhmetov hinted on July 15 that the four persons might not be alive anymore. ?I?d like to hope [that they are alive], but too much time has passed [since their disappearance],? Maj. Gen. Kulakhmetov told reporters.
The road in the Georgian village of Kekhvi, north of Tskhinvali, also remains closed owing to a protest being conducted there.
An attempt by Georgian State Minister Giorgi Khaindrava to meet with the protesters on July 14 in Kekhvi was marred by an incident wherein the brother of one of the missing men fired shots in the air from an automatic weapon. In an interview with the Georgian television channels he said that he opened fire to demonstrate his mistrust towards the State Minister.
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