South Ossetia releases two Georgian citizens

Akaki Datiashvili, whom Georgia considered as kidnapped, was released today after paying a fine for border trespassing. Today, the court in South Ossetia also released Maya Otinashvili, after sentencing her to a conditional term.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 7, Georgia announced the kidnapping of a shepherd near the border with South Ossetia. Maya Otinashvili, 37, was detained on September 29 in the vicinity of the Khurvaleti village in the Gori District of Georgia. According to the South-Ossetian KGB, she not only illegally crossed the border, but also repeatedly, for monetary rewards, helped other residents of Georgia and South Ossetia to do this.

The South-Ossetia KGB has stated that Datiashvili was detained by border guards for violating the South-Ossetian border regime.

Today, the court of the Tskhinvali District imposed an administrative fine on the detainee, after which he was transferred to the Georgian party in the area of the village of Ergneti.

Also today, the final court session on Maya Otinashvili took place. The South-Ossetian court decided to sentence her to a year of conditional imprisonment with a probation period of six months and to release her from custody, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the court.

After the sentencing, South-Ossetian border guards took Otinashvili from the court to the pre-border village of Ergneti, where she was handed over to the Georgian party.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 9, 2018 at 03:20 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.