Occupants Release 94-year-old Georgian Man Detained for ‘Illegal Crossing of Border’
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday,July 2
The Russia-controlled border guards from Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region released 94-year-old Georgian citizen Gora Garinashvili on Saturday, who was detained on Friday for the “illegal crossing of border.”
Negotiations with the occupants were carried out with the help of the European Union Monitoring Mission.
Garibashvili was detained for the second time in the village of Sakorintlo, located in the Kaspi municipality, on the Tbilisi-administered territory.
Locals say that they saw how the armed people attacked the old man and kidnapped him.
The Russia-controlled so-called border guards abduct Georgian citizens quite often and in most cases release them after paying the fine.
The fine amounts to about 30-32 USD.
The Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali were declared as independent countries by Russia after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
Only Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria share Russia’s position. The rest of the international community states that the historic regions of Georgia are now occupied by Russia.
The Russia-Georgia 2008 War was a war between Georgia, Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The war displaced 192,000 people and while many returned to their homes after the war, 20,272 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, remained displaced.
35 Georgians and 6 Ossetians remain missing since the war.
