Tbilisi Demands Release of 16 Georgians

The Georgian side demanded from Russia to “immediately” release those 16 Georgian citizens, who were detained by the Russian Federal Security Service’s border guards on October 25 for “violation of the South Ossetian border.”

The Georgian Foreign Ministry passed a protest note to the Russian Foreign Ministry through the Swiss embassy. Switzerland represents Russia’s diplomatic interests in Georgia and Georgia’s interests in Russia after the two countries cut diplomatic ties after the August war.

“The detainees are still kept illegally in custody at the so-called prosecutor’s office of the occupied district of Akhalgori,” the note reads. “The Georgian side assesses the aforesaid fact as yet another crime committed by the occupation forces and a provocation carried out by Russia on the sovereign territory of Georgia.”
 
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia expresses its strong protest over the aforesaid actions of the Russian side and categorically demands the immediate release of the detained citizens of Georgia,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on October 28.

In a statement issued on October 26 EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said it was concerned with the arrest of sixteen Georgian citizens by Russian border guards in the vicinity of the South Ossetian administrative border.

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