De facto Tskhinvali Disapproves of Georgians’ Civil Patrolling at ABL

De facto authorities of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia (Tskhinvali) commented on the patrolling of Georgian civilians at the occupation line, saying such actions might cause tensions between the two sides.

Murat Jioev, a special representative of breakaway Tskhinvali at the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) says that the whole responsibility on further developments lies on Georgian side.

"Such actions in the border areas are very dangerous as they are connected to possible provocative incidents that can aggravate the situation,” Jioev added.

Civil patrolling at the occupation line stated on Tuesday and in was initiated by the members of the public movement -Power is in Unity.

The initiators claim the patrolling is voluntary and it will be permanent. According to them, the aim of patrolling is to timely discover Russian border guards, their occupational engineering groups and timely deliver information to the international community over violations.

The civilians say the patrolling is agreed with law enforcers and the government is aware of it as well.

Representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia met with initiators and organizers of the public movement and informed them about the possible risks that might follow the patrolling.

The ministry stated that Georgian officers and representatives of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia work intensively at the occupation line in order to ensure that the local population lives in a safe environment. 

“The occupational zone is a high risk area where such kind of movement is dangerous. Therefore, we do not approve the initiative of the public movement – Power is in Unity. Naturally, we respect the freedom of speech and expression, and at the same time we reserve the right to act in compliance with the law,” the statement of the ministry reads.

By Thea Morrison