Resident of Georgia convicted in Tskhinvali for border violation

Khvicha Mgebrishvili, a resident of Georgia, who entered the territory controlled by South Ossetia in search of bat cocoons for sale, was found guilty of illegally crossing the border and sentenced in Tskhinvali to three months' imprisonment.

A Georgian citizen, Mgebrishvili, Khvicha Avtandilovich, was detained on July 3 near the dwelling settlement of Adzysar in the Tskhinvali District by border guards, the State Security Committee (known as KGB) of South Ossetia reported on July 16. "The increased interest in the population of South Ossetian bats since 2012 has been exhibited by the 'R. Lugar Centre of Public Health'," says the KGB's publication on the Facebook.

The Georgian side received information about the Mgebrishvili's trial through the hotline of the EU observer mission. The statements about the interest of the Lugar Laboratory in South Ossetian bats are "a lie and a provocation," Amiran Gamkrelidze, the head of the National Centre for Disease Control of the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) of Georgia, has stated, noting that bats for research are collected by specialists, not ordinary citizens, and not in the territory, controlled by South Ossetia. "We are looking for rabies in bats, and other diseases, including coronaviruses," the "Interfax" quoted Mr Gamkrelidze as saying on July 18.

The Tskhinvali City Court passed the verdict on Mgebrishvili on August 21.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 21, 2020 at 07:28 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.