23:59, 4 February 2019

Court releases on bail "Donbass" veterans detained in Georgia

Tbilisi City Court. Photo: Mzia Saganelidze (RFE/RL)

Seven former militaries of the Ukrainian battalion "Donbass", detained during a special operation in December in Tbilisi, have been released on bail, said Semyon Semenchenko, an MP of the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Assembly) of Ukraine.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 2, 2018, six citizens of Ukraine and a citizen of Georgia were detained; during a search, weapons and ammunition were seized from them.

According to investigators, all the detainees are fighters of the Ukrainian "Donbass" battalion of volunteers. They refused to plead guilty of illegal acquisition and possession of weapons, their advocate has stated.

Mr Semenchenko has informed in his Facebook that "armed provocations" had taken place. He also posted a video in which he stands surrounded by the released militaries.

"We hope that justice will triumph. We had no criminal intentions towards Georgia or the Georgian people," one of the released men said in the video.

Let us remind you that, after the detention of seven persons in Tbilisi, the Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) promised to check whether they were connected with the "political processes in the country." The special operation took place against the background of opposition's disagreement to the outcomes of the presidential election.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 4, 2019 at 05:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.