Italian lawyers can represent the interests of South Ossetia (RSO) in international courts in the case of a corresponding appeal of the authorities of the Republic on the issue of genocide of South Ossetians committed by the authorities of the Georgian democratic Republic in the 1919-1920-ies, told RIA Novosti on Monday, the foreign Minister of RSO Dmitry Medoev.
Medoev, who is on a working trip to Italy, has remindeded that next year the entire Ossetian people will mark the centenary of these tragic events. During a visit to Naples, he held a number of meetings in this regard with representatives of local legal circles, in particular with the head of the law firm Libonati & Libonati, Professor Antonio Libonati. According to the Minister, the well-known lawyer agreed to accept for consideration the documents and materials that will be provided to lawyers for conducting their legal analysis and bringing them in line with international law.
“No matter how much time has passed, we will always remember the crimes committed by the Georgian National Mensheviks against the civilian population of South Ossetia. The current Georgian state is responsible for these crimes, especially since it has declared itself the successor of the Georgian republic of the 1918-1921 type. There is no statute of limitations for such crimes,” Medoev emphasized. “The punitive operation of the Georgian regular army, equipped and armed with the governments of several European states, led to the deaths of many thousands of civilians. Shortly after the formation of the South Ossetian Autonomous Region in 1922, a special commission was established to investigate these crimes. According to its data, about 75% of the Ossetian population then lost their homes, property and were forced to leave South Ossetia, saving their lives. Hundreds of villages were burned to the ground, more than 10 thousand people were killed. The southern part of Ossetia was almost completely looted and burned. The losses of the people of South Ossetia were also great in places of forced emigration to the territory of North Ossetia, where about 5 thousand people died. In general, the death toll of Ossetians in 1920 amounted to about 10% of the total population of South Ossetia,” the Minister said.
Medoev has also noted that on Friday he intends to appeal to the European Parliament with a request to consider the appeal of the South Ossetian Parliament regarding the genocide of South Ossetians in 1920, committed by Georgia.
Earlier, parliamentarians of South Ossetia addressed to their Russian colleagues to recognize the genocide of South Ossetians. In September, First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov announced that a working group had been created to study this appeal. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that it would be good for the current Georgian authorities to know the long history of relations with the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia if they want to establish relations with them today. Then the Russian President, in particular, noted the cruelty of Georgian troops in Ossetia in 1919 and 1920, adding that "this is exactly what is called genocide today."
