Russia-controlled Tskhinvali Says 514 Detained for ‘Border violations’ last year
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, January 22
(TSKHINVALI, Georgia) - Georgia’s Russia-controlled Tskhivali (South Ossetia) regime de facto leadership says that they detained 514 people for “illegal crossing of Georgia-Tskhivali border” in 2017, that was about 11 percent less than in 2016.
The total income for Tskhinvali budget from the detentions amounted to around USD 15,000.
The detainees mostly have to pay about USD 30-40 to be released from the Tskhinvali detention facility.
Georgia’s State Security Service announced that between the years of 2010-2016, 915 people had been detained by Russia’s-controlled border guards at the occupation line between Georgia and Tskhinvali.
Tbilisi permanently protests the detentions within all relevant domestic and international platforms. However, Russia and its occupant forces still continue the illegal action.
Russia occupies 20 percent of the Georgian land, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and continues the creeping occupation of Georgian territories.
The federation recognized the regions as independent republics in the wake of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, together with only Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru.
The rest international community says the regions are integral parts of Georgia.
The 2008 War between Russia and Georgia displaced 192,000 persons and while many returned to their homes after the war, 20,272 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, remained displaced.
35 Georgians and 6 Ossetians remain missing since the war.
