South Ossetian authorities free Georgian citizen Bestayev amid stroke, coma
Georgian citizen Gennady Bestaev, who was serving a sentence in Tskhinvali prison, was pardoned by the de facto President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov due to stroke followed by coma. Bestayev was taken to a clinic in Tbilisi.
Gennady Bestaev’s condition is assessed as critical.
The statement about Bestaev’s release was disseminated by the State Security Service of Georgia.
“At the request of the central government of Georgia, a citizen of Georgia will be transferred to a medical facility located in the territory controlled by the central government.
Unlawful arrests not only restrict free movement, but in some cases also endanger the lives of local residents.
The Russian Federation bears full responsibility for the illegal detention of citizens, causing harm to their health and all unlawful actions committed against them”, the statement reads.
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Gennady Bestaev was detained by the Russian military in 2019. He was charged with violating the so-called state border of South Ossetia,as well as drug smuggling. Bestaev was sentenced to three years in prison.
There are frequent reports from the conflict zone of Russian soldiers detaining Georgian citizens on charges of “illegal crossing of the state border” while the latter either graze cattle in their village or collect jonjoli in a nearby forest.
Citizens arrested on these charges are usually fined and quickly released.
The “state border” is strictly controlled by the Russian military, which carries out frequent arrests, including in places where there is no barbed wire or border sign.
In addition to the Russian military, representatives of the EU Monitoring Mission have been in the conflict zone since the end of the August 2008 war, patrolling the side controlled by Tbilisi.
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