AWOL Soldiers Return to Kojori Military Unit

About 70 servicemen who went AWOL overnight on May 2 from the Kojori military unit near Tbilisi have already returned to the base, Georgian Public Defender Sozar Subari said.

He said that after the officers found several soldiers drunk and “decided to punish them,” other servicemen expressed their protest by going AWOL.  

“It should be noted that the demand of the officers was absolutely legitimate and correct, because drinking [alcohol] in a military unit is a violation,” Sozar Subari told reporters on May 2.
 
The Ministry of Defense declined to comment on this incident.

The Georgian Public Defender did not confirm reports that the soldiers were beaten up.