De facto government declares the remains found near Tskhinvali practically identified
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, June 11
Authorities in the occupied Tskhinvali region say three bodies found near the village of Tbeti may have belonged to two Dagestanis and a Tskhinvali resident who went missing 16 years ago.
A local farmer discovered the bodies near the village of Tbeti in Tskhinvali region on 8th of June while cultivating the land and appealed to law enforcement.
Although genetic analysis has not yet been performed, the so-called prosecutor of the de facto South Ossetia, Uruzmag Jagaev, is convinced that the remains of the missing Dagestanis and Tskhinvali residents have been traced.
“We are convinced that these corpses belong to the people who went missing on January 12, 2004 in the Java district. 2 of them are Dagestanis, born in 1972 and 1960. The 3rd is Ossetian, surnamed Margiev, born in 1985,” Uruzmag Jagayev told Tskhinvali TV.
According to him, there are remnants of clothes in the criminal case, which gives grounds to claim that these people were in the tomb: “There are other individual signs, according to which, even without DNA analysis, we conclude that these are exactly the people.”
In the last two days, the de facto prosecutor's office has been reporting that the tomb found near the lake has been in use for more than 10 years, and traces of violence can be seen on the remains.
According to the available information, a robbery attack was carried out on Dagestanis, who were the drivers of the trucks and resident of Tskhinvali who accompanied them in 2004. Radio Liberty Project Caucasus Real was told by a source in the South Ossetian militia that two local residents were arrested shortly after the disappearance, but the suspects were released due to lack of evidence.
Following the spread of information about the discovery of a tomb near the village of Tbeti, the families of those missing during the hostilities demanded the involvement of the Georgian authorities and competent experts in the process of identifying the remains found in the occupied territories.
The search for the missing continues under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The organization has already launched an investigation.
“Our interest is in this issue, and if it is established that these remains may be related to the August 2008 conflict, or to the conflict of the 1990s, we will naturally try to make it a subject of three-way discussion. We have also started a media analysis and we will raise this issue within the framework of the confidential dialogue, if there is at least a hint that it may be related to any conflict,” Maia Kardava, head of the Red Cross's communications department commented.
Representatives of the Tskhinvali office of the International Organization meet with the representatives of the de facto government to find out the details.
