Two Russian Reporters Released

Georgian police handed over two Russian journalists, arrested in the South Ossetian conflict zone, to the Russian embassy in Tbilisi.

Andrei Chistiakov, a journalist, and cameraman Igor Sturit, from Russian RTR television station?s Vesti news program were arrested on July 12.

Georgian Interior Ministry said two Russian citizens had no Georgian visas and were detained for illegally crossing the Georgian border.

?They were handed over to the Russian Embassy in a gesture of a good will,? the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

This was not the first time Russian citizens have been arrested by Georgian police in the South Ossetian conflict zone. The normal practice for those coming from Russia is to travel through the Roki Tunnel, which links North and South Ossetia. Because there are no Georgian border guards or customs officials stationed there, taking this route effectively means entering Georgia illegally.

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