Georgian Interior Minister Van Merabishvili warned on December 6 that ?an adequate response? will be made if three Georgian policemen and several civilians, detained in the South Ossetian conflict zone, are not released.
The exact number of detained Georgians is not known. According to the State Minister?s Office for Conflict Resolution Issues, three policemen and six civilians were detained, while Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana that three policemen and five civilians were arrested near the Ossetian village of Dmenisi on December 6.
?Today, early in the morning the South Ossetian de facto officials kidnapped several policemen and unarmed civilians. Currently they are being held by the Tskhinvali [South Ossetian capital] police. The South Ossetian side is also arresting ethnic Georgians who trade in the Tskhinvali market and taking them to the police station in Tskhinvali. This is an act of vandalism [sic], which is the answer to the arrest of a person who is a dealer of counterfeit foreign currency,? Merabishvili told reporters on December 6.
Georgian Military Police arrested South Ossetian police official Viacheslav Kudziev in the conflict zone on December 6. He was injured in a shootout with Georgian forces during the arrest. The Georgian side claims that USD 16,000 in counterfeit currency was confiscated from Kudziev.
The Georgian Interior Minister called on the South Ossetian to immediately release ?the hostages.?
?I want to warn them and tell everyone – including the leadership of the peacekeeping troops, the administrations of the de facto Interior and Defense Ministries – release the hostages immediately. They confirm once again that they are criminals and supporters of criminals. We will adequately respond to these criminals and bandits,? the Minister added.
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