A Georgian citizen, serving prison term in Russia for espionage for Tbilisi, was released and handed over to the Georgian side on June 28, PM’s special envoy for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, said.
Total of seven Georgian citizens have been released by since 2014. Three of them, who were also serving lengthy prison terms in Russia on spying charges, were handed over to Georgia earlier this month and three others in 2014.
“I am very glad that it was possible to release one more Georgian citizen – the seven one, who was serving a lengthy prison term in Russia on espionage charges; yesterday he returned back to his family in Tbilisi,” Abashidze told Tbilisi-based Maestro TV on June 29.
Abashidze, who met Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin in Prague on June 28, said that those Georgian citizens were arrested in Russia in a period between 2008 and 2011.
He expressed hope that the issue will be completely solved “soon”, suggesting that several Georgian still remain in Russia serving prison terms on espionage charges.
“It’s a very complicated issue and a lot of effort has been put to address this issue,” he said. “We have carried out a serious work quietly, without any hype.”
In January, 2013 Georgia released from jails 190 inmates who were recognized by the country’s Parliament as "political prisoners"; among them were several persons who were convicted for spying in favor of Russia, including three Russian citizens. Moscow at the time welcomed the release of its citizens.
