8 Georgian citizens, including two former soldiers, remain illegally arrested in de facto Tskhinvali

Eight Georgian citizens are currently in Tskhinvali prison, illegally arrested by the Russian-controlled occupation forces for “illegally crossing the border.” Two of them are former soldiers, Mamuka Chkhikvadze and Levan Machabeli.

The central Georgian government is scheduled to demand their release during the ongoing  Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meeting in Ergneti, which began shortly before.

The central Georgian government said that it would also raise the making of illegal barriers by occupying forces at today’s 106th meeting.

The Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, along with the Geneva International Discussion format, was launched after the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war.

The representatives of the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations are also involved in the talks.

Russia recognized  the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

Since then only Venezuela, Nikatragua, Nauru and Syria have joined Russia’s illegal move, while the rest of the international community is unanimous that Russia is an occupier.

Tskhinvali, unlike Abkhazia, has plans to hold a referendum in the coming weeks over joining Russia.