Georgia demands to release persons detained at South-Ossetian border

On February 24, at the 63rd meeting within the Mechanisms for Preventing and Responding to Incidents (MPRI), which took place in the village of Ergneti, representatives of South Ossetia stated eight violations of the border with Georgia. The Georgian party claimed detention of 10 persons; two of them remain in SIZO (pre-trial prison) of the city of Tskhinvali.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported earlier that the 62nd MPRI meeting was held on January 20, 2015, and discussed the procedure for the transfer of violators of the Georgian-South-Ossetian border; then, representatives of South Ossetia stated the damage of the border sign in the section near the dwelling settlement of Korkula.

On February 24, 2016, David Sanakoev, the head of the South-Ossetian delegation, said that after the appropriate procedures, including the payment of the fine, all the detainees were transferred to the Georgian party.

He also noted that a tripartite mechanism had been set up on the issue of missing persons.

Besides, the parties discussed the possibility of reopening of the irrigation canal running along the villages of Georgia and South Ossetia, which local residents need for growing their harvests.

The Georgian party stated 10 cases of detention of Georgian citizens in the border area and raised the issue of their release, said Irakli Beraya, the head of the information-analytical department of the State Security Service of Georgia.

In general, the situation along the Georgian-South-Ossetian border was treated as stable, said the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia. The parties agreed to continue efforts towards improving the situation.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.