23:40, 3 February 2010

Georgia demands from South Ossetia to set Malkhaz Akhvlediani free

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia demands immediate release of Malkhaz Akhvlediani, a resident of the Georgian city of Chiatura, who was detained on January 31. According to South-Ossetian power agents, Akhvlediani illegally crossed the border.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia that citizen of Georgia Malkhaz Akhvlediani was detained by local power agents on January 31 in the southern suburb of Tskhinvali for breaking the frontier. "On this fact, the Ministry opened a criminal case and holds an inquiry," said the press service.

Meanwhile, their Georgian counterparts assert that Akhvlediani was detained in Nikozi village, near the South-Ossetian conflict zone, where he stayed with his friends, as the IA "News-Georgia" reports. According to the Georgian party, his detention was undertaken "despite the agreement reached during Geneva negotiations and the prevention and reaction mechanism on incidents, which assume immediate release of citizens, if they occasionally cross the administrative border."

Author: Maria Kotaeva

Source: CK correspondent