21:56, 13 December 2019

Tskhinvali court leaves doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili under arrest

The border between Georgia and South Ossetia. Photo: REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

The ruling to arrest Vazha Gaprindashvili, charged in South Ossetia with violating the border, has been upheld. The President of Georgia has called on the international community to facilitate the doctor's release.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 15, a South-Ossetian court arrested Vazha Gaprindashvili, the president of the Georgian Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatologists, for two months. The KGB (Committee for State Security) of South Ossetia stated that the violation of the border by the doctor had to do with the "hybrid operation" conducted by Georgian security forces. Gaprindashvili is under threat of up two years in prison, the "Echo of the Caucasus" reports.

According to Irina Gaprindashvili, a doctor's daughter, her father insists on his innocence and refuses to recognize the very existence of the Georgian-South-Ossetia border.

Earlier in Georgia, actions in support of Gaprindashvili were repeatedly held; and on November 28, eleven NGOs called on the Human Rights Commissioner and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the International Committee of the Red Cross to help in releasing doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 13, 2019 at 08:21 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Galina Gotua

Source: CK correspondent