Georgian authorities blame Russia for Gakheladze's verdict

Today, the Supreme Court of South Ossetia has sentenced Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze to 12.5 years of imprisonment for illegally crossing the border with South Ossetia and opening fire at Russian soldiers. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the State Security Service blamed Russia for the decision pronounced by the South-Ossetian Supreme Court and demanded to release the prisoner.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that relatives and fellow villagers of Zaza Gakheladze (also referred to in the media as Kakheladze), a citizen of Georgia, wounded by South-Ossetian border guards, questioned the version that the man opened fire from a hunting rifle at the border guards. At the time of the detention, Zaza Gakheladze was on the Georgian territory, the villagers noted.

Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of South Ossetia has sentenced Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze to 12 years and 6 months of imprisonment on the charge of illegal border crossing and encroachment on the life of a law enforcer, the State Security Service of Georgia reports today. Zaza Gakheladze has been unlawfully kept in custody on the absurd charges, the Georgian State Security Service claims.

The Russian Federation is responsible for the decision of the South-Ossetian Supreme Court, the State Security Service of Georgia believes. "The unlawful decision has once again exposed the entire inhuman and criminal essence of the trials accompanying the occupation, the responsibility for which lies entirely with the Russian Federation," the Georgian State Security Service states on its official website.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 5, 2021 at 03:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.