Georgian civilians living around the occupation line, or “Administrative Boundary Line” (ABL) as it is known by international mediators, frequently experience arrests, abduction and detention by Russian or South Ossetian “border guards” for alleged violation and trespassing of the “border”.
This is the archived 2022 page, click here for the current running year.
2022
24 November 2022
A
Georgian citizen was detained by Russian controlled border guards near Artsevi, in occupied territory. Standard hotline protocol was followed, no other details were provided.
1 November 2022
Three Georgian citizens
were detained by Russian controlled “border guards” near the occupation line at Georgian controlled village Mejvriskhevi (Gori municipality). One of the detained was a minor. Standard hotline procedures were followed by the Georgian security authorities. On 3 november 2022 the
trio was released and handed over to Georgian authorities.
19 October 2022
A 55 year old Georgian citizen was
arrested and detained on 19 October 2022 by Russian controlled troops near the village of Bershueti (Gori municipality). The arrested Tamaz Glurjidze has been transferred to the Tskhinvali police detention center. The Georgian State Security Service confirmed the media reports about the matter.
According to relatives of the detainee, Glurjidze was visiting one of his fellow villagers, and after leaving the said family, he did not return home. Later, Glurjidze contacted his family members by phone and informed them that he was in an isolation cell in occupied Tskhinvali. Glurjidze was
released the next day.
27 September 2022
The Georgian State Security Service
announced on 27 September 2022 a Georgian citizen was released by South Ossetian de facto authorities. He was detained in June 2022 by Russian controlled troops. Only at the IPRM meeting of 23 September 2022
it became public knowledge Nukri Kalashnikov was detained. No specific date or location was given of his arrest. He was originally sentenced to two months pre-trial detention by the Tskhinvali de facto court.
14 September 2022
A
Georgian citizen, Gela Iobashvili from Perevi, was detained by Russian controlled border guards on 14 September 2022 near his residential village. This became public knowledge at the IPRM meeting on 23 September 2022. The South Ossetian side did not activate the hot line after the arrest, and informed the Georgian State Security Service only on 22 September 2022 after the Tskhinvali court had already sentenced Iobashvili to two months pre-trial detention. Iobashvili
was released on 6 February 2023.
12 September 2022
The Georgian State Security Service said in a statement on 12 September 2022 that a
Georgian citizen was released on 9 September by South Ossetian de facto authorities. He was detained on 6 April 2022 by occupation forces near the occupation line near Adzvi.
24 August 2022
A 23 year old citizen of the United States
was released on 24 August 2022 by South Ossetian de facto authorities and expelled to Georgian controlled territory. He was arrested on 27 July 2022 by Russian controlled forces near the village Balaani, located in the Akhalgori (Leningor) district of South Ossetia. The
South Ossetian side “
noted that the responsibility for this incident lies entirely with the leadership of Georgia and the United States, which refuse to recognize the sovereignty of South Ossetia and purposefully hide from foreign citizens the fact that there is a state border between South Ossetia and Georgia”.
18 August 2022
The de facto South Ossetian authorities
reduced the sentence of former Georgian serviceman Mamuka Chkhikvadze to
three years and 8 months for “smuggling marijuana”. The 31-year old man was arrested on 10 December 2021 (see below) and was charged with “illegally crossing the border” while allegedly having “more than four grams of marijuana” with him. The original sentence was five years.
One day prior former Georgian serviceman Levan Machabelli was released on after nearly 5 months of detention and transferred to Georgian controlled territory, the Georgian Security Service
said in a statement. He was arrested on 26 March 2022 by Russian controlled troops for “violating the border” near Zemo Artsevi.
5 August 2022
On 5 August 2022 two Georgian citizens
were released from South Ossetian detention, and transferred to Georgian controlled territory. They were arrested in December 2021 by Russian controlled troops near Lopani village at the South Ossetian occupation line for “violating the border”.
13 July 2022
In the first half of 2022,
“209 violators of the border regime were detained“, the South Ossetian KGB
reported on 13 July 2022. If those, 134 were detained for “violation of the state border”, the occupation line with central-Georgia. In total 139 people got an administrative fine, some were expelled, while seven were criminally prosecuted and three criminal Investigations were ongoing. The KGB announced to tighten the compliance with the so called “border regime”, meaning only people with a valid ID and in some cases additional documentation can be present near the
de facto border.
31 March 2022
Georgian
media reported on 31 March 2022
Russian controlled forces have illegally
detained a Georgian citizen near (Zemo)
Artsevi (occupied
South Ossetia). This is confirmed by the Georgian State Security Service, while South Ossetian media outlet RES
reported the detention took place on
26 March 2022. The hot line through EU Monitoring Mission has been activated. The Georgian security service dismissed claims the detained person is in service of the Georgian military.
According to the
South Ossetian KGB security services, the Georgian citizen (born 1987) was
“a serviceman of the 3rd brigade of the Georgian Armed Forces between 2005-2009 and took an active part in the hostilities in August 2008 on the territory of South Ossetia”. T
hey further claimed he “tried to join the Georgian National Legion and, as a volunteer, take part in hostilities against the Russian Armed Forces in the Donbass.” Upon allegedly being rejected, the KGB said he decided to “illegally enter the territory of South Ossetia and commit a provocation against the Russian military contingent stationed in the Republic”
They also accused the Georgian police of not detaining him. A well versed propaganda story of “Georgian Russophobia”.
22 January 2022
Reported on 24 january 2022 by
South Ossetian RES: “Border guards in
South Ossetia detained a Georgian citizen who violated the state border of the republic and handed him over to the Georgian side”. He was detained on 22 January, and released without a penalty citing health conditions. According to the South ossetian authorities he went to South Ossetia due to “economic difficulties and impossibility to find a job”.
14 January 2022
In December 2021 55 people were detained for violation of South Ossetia’s de facto border regime, the region’s KGB
released. Of those, 33 violated the so called “state border” with Georgian controlled territory, and 22 the border zone regime. This is the regime that any South Ossetian resident needs a permit to be within the minimum distance from the “border”, for example to visit a cemetary, chapel, or house close to the boundary line.
5 January 2022
Radio Tavisupleba reported on 5 January 2021 based on
a statement released by the Georgian State Security Service
Georgian citizen Lasha Khetereli, an IDP from Liakhvi gorge,
was arrested for the 6th time on 24 December by Russian occupying forces. He was sentenced to 2 months “pre-trial detention”. He was detained near Tskhinvali, a more precise location is not known.
He spent almost a year in Tskhinvali prison for “violating the border” and was released on 17 June 2021 (see below). As he served his sentence imposed by a Tskhinvali court, he was transfered to Georgian authorities. Lasha Khetereli has been living in the Shaumiani IDP settlement since the 2008 war, writes Radio Tavispubleba. He has relatives in South Ossetia region and travels there periodically to visit them.
