Occupants Detain Georgian Priest

Guards at the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) with the occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) arrested Georgian priest Father Davit (Durglishvili) in Nikozi village.

Other people who were with the priest when he was detained say that he was working on his agricultural land near the dividing line when the so-called border guards showed up and detained him. The others working with him managed to escape.

Levan Khojevanishvili, Shida Kartli Governor, says everything is being done to release the cleric from illegal detention.

“Occupants detained Father Davit illegally. We are doing our best to get him home,” he said.

Georgia’s State Security Service also released a statement regarding the case, saying that the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) has been informed and a hotline has been activated.

Georgian media reports that the detained priest is in the pre-trial detention facility of breakaway Tskhinvali.

By Thea Morrison