Georgian Man Dies in South Ossetia Jail

A Georgian man died on February 23 in occupied South Ossetia. Archil Tatunashvili, 35, had been detained by the Russian-backed Tskhinvali authorities. 

According to the Tskhinvali “security service,” the man had been “taken to Tskhinvali for questioning” the day before. 

The so-called Security Service gave the reason for his death, saying the man resisted being moved to a detention cell and a result, “sustained injuries, was knocked down and rolled down the stairs,” after which he was taken to hospital, where he died after two hours. They also claim that according to the preliminary results of the autopsy of the body of Tatunashvili, the cause of death was acute heart failure. 

Tskhinvali accused Tatunashvili of “genocide against South Ossetians,” saying he had been a member of the Georgian Army and was apparently “preparing new acts of sabotage on the territory of the republic shortly before the election of the President of Russian Federation.”

By Tom Day