De-Facto “South Ossetia” Criticizes Georgia’s Lawsuit against Russia

Murat Jioev, spokesman for the de-facto President of so-called South Ossetia (Georgia’s Tskhinvali region), spoke yesterday criticizing Georgia’s ongoing lawsuit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Jioev called the lawsuit a “pointless propagandistic campaign.” He continued, “In 2012, at the Geneva International Discussions, we discussed the use of the term ‘occupation’ in regards to South Ossetia and neither Georgian nor international representatives could argue the advisability of using this term, while the South Ossetian delegation demonstrated the full absurdity of the use of the term. As for the death of Tatunashvili, even the most competent [experts] of the National Forensics Bureau did not find enough grounds to come to a conclusion about ‘murder.’ Because of this, staff members of the Bureau have been obstructed in Georgia. This is inhumane, when some forces in Georgia are doing their own political business on the death of human beings and their relatives,” said Jioev.  

‘Georgia v the Russian Federation’ was sent to the ECHR in Strasbourg by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia on Tuesday, demanding the Court establish Russia's responsibility for violating several articles of the European Convention, including its continued occupation of Georgia and violations of citizens’ rights.

By Samantha Guthrie