Two S. Ossetians Released
Georgian police have confirmed that two South Ossetian residents were released late on July 22.
The two men, who were charged with drug trafficking, were released on GEL 2,000 bail. On July 21, two other South Ossetian residents were released. All four men were detained on July 20. The South Ossetian side claimed that the detentions were made in response to the arrest of a Georgian man by South Ossetian law enforcement officers on the same day. Tskhinvali also claimed that the Georgian side was insisting on a prisoner exchange.
The Georgian Interior Ministry, however, said the arrest of the four South Ossetian residents was a purely criminal matter, unrelated to the detention of the Georgian man by the South Ossetian side.
Meanwhile, Teimuraz Goginashvili, the Georgian arrested by the South Ossetian side, remains held in Tskhinvali on suspicion of murder. Georgian media sources reported that the alleged crime dates back to the armed conflict in the region in the early 1990s.