Young Georgian woman arrested in Abkhazia on charges of "espionage"

Young Georgian woman arrested in Abkhazia

Twenty four year old Kristine Takalandze, a native of the Gali district of Abkhazia, has been arrested on charges of “spying for the Georgian special services.”

The Abkhaz security service reports that Takalandze, an internally displaced person from the village of Nabakevi in ​​the Gali district, was arrested on July 20. According to them, the young woman does not have Abkhazian citizenship, but is a Georgian citizen and lives in Zugdidi.

According to the service, Takalandze’s goal was to collect state, military and other information about Abkhazia and pass it on to the Georgian security services. The investigative department of the State Security Service opened a criminal case against Kristine Takalandze under the article of espionage.

The footage released by the security service shows Takalandze’s identity card, credit and other cards, and a note in Georgian: “If you go somewhere in Gali or Zugdidi, bring me this medicine…”

The Georgian Security Service issued a special statement on the arrest of Takalandze:

“Representatives of the occupation regime of Abkhazia have illegally arrested Georgian citizen Kristine Takalandze. Regarding this illegal arrest, the State Security Service immediately activated a hotline and informed the EU Monitoring Mission and the co-chairs of the Geneva discussions. Active work is underway to release a Georgian citizen from illegal detention using all available means. Illegal arrests carried out by the occupying regime complicate the daily life of the local population and cause serious damage to the security environment.”