Georgian Ombudsman requests journalists detained in Abkhazia should be released

Georgian ombudsman Sozar Subari requests the release of Georgian TV journalists detained by Abkhazia militia in Ochamchir District early in March. On March 17, Subari, along with a number of Georgian human rights organizations, addressed a letter to the Georgian government and international organizations with a request to interfere and take measures. The ombudsman's staff has informed journalists that the authors of the address ask the government and the international organizations to facilitate the release of the detained persons as soon as possible.

"The Government of Georgia should have long ago taken a more serious stand towards such a gross violation of the rights of Georgian citizens by Abkhazia militia. I am surprised by the carelessness of the authorities about the fact that innocent young people are kept under arrest and in isolation from the external world," states Sozar Subari before the journalists.

Teya Shariya, Tariel Sokhadze and Temur Eliava, citizens of Georgia, were detained in Ochamchir District of Abkhazia early in March. They were making a documentary on the history of Georgia. The film making was approved by the Georgian Patriarchate. Abkhazian militia detained Shariya, Sokhadze and Eliava during the filming of a Georgian monastery in Ochamchir District. The Abkhazian side justified the detainment of the journalists by a claim that the group was filming the sites which are not intended for video recording. The court has recently passed a decision on their three-month preliminary detainment for the period of investigation.

For reference, Teya Shariya, Tariel Sokhadze and Temur Eliava were detained on March 1 in the Gulripsh District of Abkhazia.

During the interrogation the detained persons told the officers of the Abkhazian national security service that they had arrived in the republic for filming monasteries and churches. According to the detained persons, they entered the Abkhazian territory via the lower zone of the bordering Ghalsk District, by-passing the border check-points.

The confiscated photo and video materials feature the preaching house in the town of Tkuarchal, and the automobile and railway bridges across the river Kelasur in Sukhum, the railway platform of the station Gumskaya, the highway from the central part of the capital to Kelasur, a panoramic view of Sukhum and a number of other sites which have nothing to do with religion.

According to the NSS, a criminal case has been initiated against Shariya, Sokhadze and Eliava on the basis of their illegal crossing of the Abkhazian border. The Abkhazian NSS where they are being held at present conducts the investigation.

The Abkhazian MFA considers the violation of their border by Georgian citizens as provocation.