Three Georgians illegally detained by Russian occupation forces near Zugdidi

On January 18, at about 8:30 in the evening, three Georgian citizens were illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces near Khurcha village of Zugdidi Municipality. The State Service of Georgia has already activated a hotline and demanded an immediate release of the detained persons.

According to the statement released by the State Security Service of Georgia, a representative of occupied Abkhazia has already confirmed the illegal detention of three people living in the occupied territory via the hotline and added that the persons in question have already been released.

The statement read that the incident is a “deliberate provocation from the occupying regime’s side, and it significantly damaged the overall security environment and posed a significant threat to the stability and security to the region in general.”

On the same day, a trial of another illegally detained citizen of Georgia Zaza Gakheladze has been carried out after six months of his pre-trial detention. Gakheladze was shot and illegally detained by Russia-controlled occupation forces in July 2020. The incident occurred near the administrative line dividing the occupied Tskhinvali region.

Gakheladze, who is a resident of Kvemo Tchala village of the Kaspi Municipality in central Georgia, was shot and taken into detention at about 09.30 in the morning for the alleged crossing of the ‘state border’ and opening fire at the ‘border security guards’. According to the official statement released by the de-facto Security Committee of South Ossetia, Gakheladze was injured in a return fire opened by the border security guards. Gakheladze has been taken to Akhalgori where he received treatment. According to Gakheladze’s family, the 33-year-old went on a mushroom picking trip near the occupation line.

The US Department of State released a statement in July last year, in which it strongly condemned the shooting and the illegal detaining of Zaza Gakheladze and demanded Russia to fulfill its obligations under the 2008 ceasefire agreement.

According to RFE/RL reports, several witnesses and Gakheladze himself were questioned at the hearing on January 18. Should Gakheradze be found guilty of crossing the ‘state border’ and shooting at the border patrol, he might be sentenced to 11-20 years in prison. Soon after the trial, the State Security Service of Georgia released another statement saying that the central government continues its efforts to achieve Gakheladze’s unconditional.