S. Ossetia’s KGB Reports Arrest of Georgian Citizen

TSKHINVALI, South Ossetia - Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia claims a 42 year-old Georgian man was arrested on February 14 after illegally crossing the contact line separating the region from central authority in Tbilisi, South Ossetia’s state security services said in a report.

According to the Russian-backed separatist government, a resident of Georgia’s central Rustavi district was arrested when he attempted to travel to the rebel capital Tskhinvali with a local resident, the region’s de facto security services - still known by their KGB Soviet moniker - said in a statement.

Up to 2,500 people have been detained by Russia’s feared FSB security services for illegal border crossings into the secessionist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions from 2009- 2015, according to a human rights report from Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the report, 162 Georgians were detained along the contact line with South Ossetia in 2015.

In most cases detained individuals are fined and later released after several days. There have, however, been cases of Georgian citizens remaining in FSB custody for several years.
Georgian government forces have fought three wars against Russian-backed separatist forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia between 1991-2008.

The wars left thousands dead and led to the ethnic cleansing of a quarter of a million ethnic Georgians.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia were recognized as independent states by Moscow following the 2008 war.

International law and the United Nations continue to state that the regions remain parts of Georgia.

Tamar Svanidze

Edited by Nicholas Waller