A Georgian national detain by Russian occupants
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, June 7
Russian soldiers detained 35-year-old Georgian citizen Mikheil Giginashvili in the village of Bershueti on June 5, near the country’s eastern de facto independent Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
Locals say the man was abducted when he was grazing the village cattle on a pasture currently controlled by Georgia.
They also stated that the land belongs to the village, and Giginashvili had not crossed the so-called Administrative Boundary Line.
Over 130 people were detained by Russian-controlled guards patrolling the occupation line in 2016, based on information released by Georgia’s State Security Service.
Detainees are usually released after their families pay a fee of about 2,000 rubles (about 90 GEL or $35).
According to Georgia’s Foreign Ministry, 184 illegal detentions for "illegally crossing the border” took place in 2011, 301 detentions were reported in 2012, 441 in 2013, and 307 in 2014.
A total of 327 Georgian citizens have been illegally detained by Russian guards near the two Russian occupation lines in Georgia in 2016.
Of these, 193 people were detained by guards patrolling the occupation line separating the breakaway region of Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia; the remaining 134 people were detained by guards patrolling the occupation line separating breakaway Tskhinvali region from the rest of Georgia.
