Tbilisi Warns Tskhinvali to Release ‘Hostages’

The Georgian Interior Ministry has warned that it would undertake “appropriate measures” if the South Ossetian militias refused to release five Georgians.

Two Georgians “were kidnapped” by four South Ossetian militiamen in the Znauri District, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on June 5. Ransom, it said, was the motive.

It also said that in a separate incident a South Ossetian special rapid reaction unit “had taken three Georgian hostages” in the breakaway region’s capital, Tskhinvali, on June 3.

“The Georgian Interior Ministry categorically demands the immediate release of the kidnapped and illegally detained Georgian citizens. We also categorically demand that those responsible be arrested and handed over to the Georgian law enforcement agencies,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, the South Ossetian side has accused Georgian law enforcers of abducting its citizen on June 4 from the Georgian village of Ergneti.

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