Tbilisi Court Sentences Ossetian to 23-Year Imprisonment

A court in Tbilisi sentenced Marek Dudaev, a resident of the breakaway South Ossetian village of Zemo Artsevi, to 23 years of imprisonment for murder, extortion and banditry.

Marek Dudaev, 30, who denied the charges, was arrested by the Georgian police last March. Defense lawyer Natia Siradze described the trial as ?a stage-show? and said that she will appeal the Supreme Court of Georgia. She also alleged that investigators were intimidating witnesses during the trial.

Last March, when Marek Dudaev was arrested, the Georgian officials described him as a ?South Ossetian warlord? and ?criminal kingpin.? But an investigative report aired by the Tbilisi-based 202 television station in summer revealed a number of facts which call into question the official version of the arrest, as well as a number of charges brought against Dudaev.

The Georgian Interior Ministry announced on November 26 that Marek Dudaev?s brother Erik, who serves in the breakaway South Ossetian Defense Ministry, is also a criminal kingpin who is engaged in kidnappings, extortion and other criminal activities.

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