Hammarberg hopes to release three more Georgian citizens from custody in Tskhinvali

Nino Kalandadze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, views the visit of Thomas Hammarberg, Supreme Commissioner of the Council of Europe, to Georgia as a victory of Georgian diplomacy. There is information that three more citizens of Georgia can be set free in the near future.

Let us remind you that yesterday, on May 2, the authorities of South Ossetia released three citizens of Georgia, detained in October 2009. All of them were handed over to the Georgian party across the border at Ergneti village. Their release was achieved with assistance of the Human Rights High Commissioner of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammarberg who is on his visit to Tskhinvali.

As stated today by Ms Kalandadze, the Georgian diplomacy had managed to accurately inform the international community, and as a result of the latter's reaction three citizens of Georgia kept in Tskhinvali prisons were released.

"The Georgian diplomacy has no other mission except for precisely informing the international community. The release of the three Georgians is a success of Georgian diplomacy," said Ms Kalandadze. According to her version, 10 citizens of Georgia are still in captivity, the "Georgia Online" Agency reports adding that according to its other sources 14 more Georgian citizens are still in Tskhinvali prison. She expressed hope that negotiations on releasing them would be successful too.

The "Rosbalt" Agency adds referring to Thomas Hammarberg that three more Georgians still kept in the Tskhinvali prison can be released in the near future.

The released persons said that in total the Tskhinvali prison still keeps 13 citizens of Georgia; the health condition of some of them is grave. At the same time, they assessed the custody conditions in the prison as "normal".

Mr Hammarberg has noted that the good-will step of the authorities of South Ossetia to release three Georgians will essentially facilitate his work with the Georgian party towards releasing the detained citizens of South Ossetia and searching the missing ones.

"During this visit I received positive reactions from both parties on release of prisoners and search of missing people, and I understand that I have chances to come back here," Mr Hammarberg said after his meetings in Tskhinvali.

The Supreme Commissioner has noted that the work was very hard, with many complications, and he was about to stop it. "After this visit I decided to go on with it in order to help families and relatives on both sides," the "Res" Agency quotes Mr Hammarberg as saying.

Let us note here that Levan Biganov, Dzhamlet Dzhamrishvili and Gennady Tsiklauri, who were released by the South-Ossetian party, were arrested and convicted last year for illegal crossing the border. Under assertions of the Georgian authorities, they were engaged in procuring wood in the Georgian territory, from where they had been kidnapped by Russian militaries.