Publication N30 / Review Period: April 1 - 30, 2024 / Author: Arsen Araqelov

Monitoring of the Situation at the Occupation Line is being prepared within the framework of the project - Roadmap to Kremlin's Policy in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region. The purpose of the publication is to review the situation and ongoing important developments near the occupation line in the Tskhinvali region. The publication will be useful for everyone – decision-makers, public employees, representatives of media and international governmental or non-governmental organizations,  and other people who are interested in the mentioned topic.

Detained and Released Citizens

In April, the occupation forces arrested seven citizens of Georgia.

On April 14, the occupation forces illegally detained three Georgian citizens in the vicinity of the village Ortevi: Otar Terashvili (born in 2005), Tamaz Etsadashvili (born in 2008), and Valery Giunashvili (born in 2004).

On April 19, the so-called Tskhinvali City Court found the Georgian citizens guilty of “illegal crossing the state border.” The detainees were fined and handed over to Georgian law enforcement officers on the territory controlled by the central government of Georgia.

On April 22, the occupation forces illegally detained three Georgian citizens on the occupied territory near the village of Dirbi. The State Security Service of Georgia released information about the detention on April 22.

On April 29, the occupation forces illegally detained a Gerogian citizen on the occupied territory near the village of Disevi. The State Security Service of Georgia released information about the detention on April 29. According to the agency, the detainee is a resident of the village of Gugutiantkari which borders with the Russian-occupied villages of Disevi and Khelchua.

During the month, in addition to the release of Terashvili, Etsadashvili and Giunashvili, the occupation forces freed another Georgian citizen from illegal detention. Alexi Adeishvili was released from prison on April 1.

Information about the arrest of Adeishvili was disseminated in open sources after his release. According to the so-called State Security Committee of the Tskhinvali region, on January 10, 2024, the occupation forces detained Alexi Adeishvili, born in 1967, living in Tbilisi, near the village of Akhmaji for “illegal crossing of the border.” On February 27, 2024, the Akhalgori “District Court” found Adeishvili guilty of “illegal crossing of the state border.” After the release, he was handed over to Georgian law enforcement officers on the territory controlled by the central government of Georgia.

In April, the occupation forces arrested seven and released four people.

As of April 30, a total of ten Georgian citizens remain in illegal detention. Of them, identities of Soso Dvalishvili, Lasha Khetereli, Nika Mamastarashvili and Ivane Lutidze are only known.

Soso Dvalishvili - the occupation forces detained him at a Perevi (Sachkhere municipality) section of the occupation line on January 16, 2023.

Lasha Khetereli - the occupation forces arrested him for the seventh time in July 2023. He periodically moves to the occupied territory to visit family members living there.

Nika Mamastarashvili and Ivane Lutidze – the occupation forces detained them near the occupation line in the vicinity of the village of Knolevi (Kareli municipality) on February 14, 2024.

See the interactive map of illegal detentions prepared by the Rondeli Foundation here.

Georgia’s State Security Report for 2023

The State Security Service of Georgia submitted the 2023 report to the Parliament. The report touches on the security challenges in the occupied regions of Georgia.

As per the annual report of the Security Service of Georgia, a total of 37 people were illegally arrested in the occupied Tskhinvali region, and 26 people - in the occupied Abkhazia throughout 2023.

The report also emphasizes that after the murder of Tamaz Ginturi near the occupation line in November 2023, the security situation has become particularly complex and severe.

The SSS report also states that the failure to implement the law in the cases of Irakli Kvaratskhelia, Davit Basharui, Archil Tatunashvili and Giga Ochtozoria, killed by the occupation forces, creates the impunity syndrome and encourages criminality.

According to the report, the “borderization process” continued last year. “A total of 39 cases of the so-called illegal borderization were reported in the direction of the occupied Tskhinvali region, and three cases - in the direction of occupied Abkhazia,” the report reads.