The News in Brief
Friday, July 28
The 48th IPRM meeting takes place in Gali
The 48th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), chaired by the UN, with the participation of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), was held in Gali on 26 July 2017.
The meeting was conducted in constructive and business-like atmosphere.
Well-known concerns were reiterated regarding the case of the 19 May 2016 fatal shooting in Khurcha. The doors for further dialogue were left open.
The participants exchanged information about one detention case. They also shared information regarding crossing documents for residents of the Gali District.
The Georgian participants presented information about rebranding of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Special Task Department, stationed along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) and informed about the upcoming "Noble Partner 2017" multinational exercise.
The next IPRM meeting will take place in Gali on 19 September 2017. (EUMM)
,b>Former member of Alliance of Patriots accuses faction chairman of abducting, beating, threatening and torturing him
Irakli Lataria, the former head of the Analytical Service of the Alliance of Patriots, accuses faction chairman Giorgi Lomia of abducting him through cheating, beating, threatening and torturing him.
Irakli Lataria told journalists that the incident occurred in October last year. According to him, in he was taken awayfrom his home to the office of the Alliance of Patriots located at the Cinema House. Lataria says that Kenkabashvili, who, according to him, was an active police officer, asked him to leave the house. Kenkabashvili told him that he had his personal correspondence which included aggressive phrases about Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi, to which Lataria replied that he had not done any such thing.
"He told me that one of his colleagues sent him photos of texts, which were taken out of the context and would be perceived as a cursing. He told me that I had to kill myself or they would surely kill me, as they had done so such many things in the past," said Irakli Lataria.
According to him, he was then brought to the office of the Alliance of Patriots, where Giorgi Lomia came and they started to beat him. Lataria also alleges that Kenkebashvili beat him with a weapon.
As for why he had been hiding this fact, Lataria said he was afraid as he was threatened with abduction or assaults on his wife. (IPN)
Russian Patriarch Meets Anatoly Bibilov in Moscow
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill hosted the new South Ossetian leader, Anatoly Bibilov, on July 25 in Moscow.
According the Russian Patriarchate, the two discussed “the religious situation in South Ossetia, relations between the Russian and the Ossetian peoples, and other issues of mutual interest”.
It also said that Patriarch Kirill congratulated the region’s new leader on his victory in the April presidential polls.
Bibilov’s office reported in its press release of the meeting that the two spoke on the ongoing construction of the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Tskhinvali, as well as the possibility of sending the region’s residents in the Russian religious seminaries.
In an interview after the meeting, Bibilov said he intended to intensify relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, adding that “Orthodox Christianity is the primary religion of the republic [South Ossetia], and we will surely be strengthening it.”
An official representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Father Kakhaber Gogotishvili, told civil.ge that the Russian Patriarch has so far been recognizing that Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia is under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
“This is what we have heard until now, but I am not familiar with what they said after the meeting,” he noted, adding that “if the Russian Orthodox Church intends to conduct activity in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church, it has to address and obtain permission from the Georgian Patriarchate”. (civil.ge)
The 48th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), chaired by the UN, with the participation of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), was held in Gali on 26 July 2017.
The meeting was conducted in constructive and business-like atmosphere.
Well-known concerns were reiterated regarding the case of the 19 May 2016 fatal shooting in Khurcha. The doors for further dialogue were left open.
The participants exchanged information about one detention case. They also shared information regarding crossing documents for residents of the Gali District.
The Georgian participants presented information about rebranding of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Special Task Department, stationed along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) and informed about the upcoming "Noble Partner 2017" multinational exercise.
The next IPRM meeting will take place in Gali on 19 September 2017. (EUMM)
,b>Former member of Alliance of Patriots accuses faction chairman of abducting, beating, threatening and torturing him
Irakli Lataria, the former head of the Analytical Service of the Alliance of Patriots, accuses faction chairman Giorgi Lomia of abducting him through cheating, beating, threatening and torturing him.
Irakli Lataria told journalists that the incident occurred in October last year. According to him, in he was taken awayfrom his home to the office of the Alliance of Patriots located at the Cinema House. Lataria says that Kenkabashvili, who, according to him, was an active police officer, asked him to leave the house. Kenkabashvili told him that he had his personal correspondence which included aggressive phrases about Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi, to which Lataria replied that he had not done any such thing.
"He told me that one of his colleagues sent him photos of texts, which were taken out of the context and would be perceived as a cursing. He told me that I had to kill myself or they would surely kill me, as they had done so such many things in the past," said Irakli Lataria.
According to him, he was then brought to the office of the Alliance of Patriots, where Giorgi Lomia came and they started to beat him. Lataria also alleges that Kenkebashvili beat him with a weapon.
As for why he had been hiding this fact, Lataria said he was afraid as he was threatened with abduction or assaults on his wife. (IPN)
Russian Patriarch Meets Anatoly Bibilov in Moscow
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill hosted the new South Ossetian leader, Anatoly Bibilov, on July 25 in Moscow.
According the Russian Patriarchate, the two discussed “the religious situation in South Ossetia, relations between the Russian and the Ossetian peoples, and other issues of mutual interest”.
It also said that Patriarch Kirill congratulated the region’s new leader on his victory in the April presidential polls.
Bibilov’s office reported in its press release of the meeting that the two spoke on the ongoing construction of the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Tskhinvali, as well as the possibility of sending the region’s residents in the Russian religious seminaries.
In an interview after the meeting, Bibilov said he intended to intensify relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, adding that “Orthodox Christianity is the primary religion of the republic [South Ossetia], and we will surely be strengthening it.”
An official representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Father Kakhaber Gogotishvili, told civil.ge that the Russian Patriarch has so far been recognizing that Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia is under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
“This is what we have heard until now, but I am not familiar with what they said after the meeting,” he noted, adding that “if the Russian Orthodox Church intends to conduct activity in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church, it has to address and obtain permission from the Georgian Patriarchate”. (civil.ge)