Reports: Georgia Returns Seized Cargo to Russian Peacekeepers

On August 15 the Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress, quoting a statement issued by the press office of the Russian peacekeeping forces, reported that the Georgian side has returned cargo seized by Georgian police in the Abkhaz conflict zone from Russian peacekeepers.

But the Georgian Interior Ministry has denied this report. ?The goods are smuggled and will not be returned,? Guram Donadze, spokesman of the Georgian Interior Ministry, told Civil Georgia on August 15.

Georgian police detained a  Russian peacekeeping forces vehicle near the bridge over the Enguri river, the administrative border between breakaway Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia on August 12 and seized goods, mainly boxes of cigarettes. The Georgian police claim that the goods were smuggled.

?After a detailed probe into the case, with the participation of legal experts, the Georgian side had to admit that its claims were groundless,? the statement of the press office of the Russian peacekeeping forces reads.

Shortly after the seizure of the vehicles, Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili convened a news conference and called on the Russian authorities to ?control? their peacekeepers and prevent them from participating in smuggling. He also hailed the Georgian law enforcers and later even awarded those police officers who participated in the seizure of the vehicle.

The Russian peacekeepers claimed that the goods were intended for Russian servicemen are stationed at the checkpoints in the west Georgian region of Zugdidi region, which boders on breakaway Abkhazia.

A similar detention of a Russian peacekeeping forces vehicle occurred in the South Ossetian conflict zone as well on August 12. Georgian police seized goods, again mainly cigarettes, and accused the peacekeepers of smuggling. But the forces in South Ossetia also denied the accusations and explained that the cargo was intended for the Russian peacekeepers? checkpoints.

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