Today, on 28 April, the Georgian side admitted the fact of detention in Goergia a the a citizens of the Russian Federation Valentina Bedoeva. It is noteworthy that on 27 April, the Georgian info-agency “Georgia Online” categorically disclaimed detention of any Russian citizen referring to the words of Head of Georgia’s Interior Ministry Shida Kartli Department V. Jugeli. “Georgian law enforcer did not detain any Ossetian, especially a woman with children”, quoted Georgian-Online V. Jugeli.
Already today, on 28 April, the Head of Information and Analysis Department of the Georgian Interior Ministry Sh. Utiashvili disapproved the statement of the reagional police department official having admitted that V.Bedoeva was detained for “illegal border crossing”. According to him, she appeared before the court and was released on bail.
Meanwhile, the relatives of the detainee stated on 28 April, Bedoeva's case was submitted for court investigation, and in accordance to the court decision, she paid the fine in Georgian currency equivalent to 75,000 RUR. Despite this, according to her, after she had paid the fine, the Georgian Interior Ministry representatives stated that she could not get her identification documents and therefore, she would not be able to leave Georgia.
It is worth mentioning that presently, Bedoeva's 10-year old children, Marat and Marina Khubaevs are with their relatives of the territory of Georgia in the village of Tserani. The children are frightened and keep asking when they would be able to meet their mother and return to their home.
The South Ossetian law enforcement bodies stressed that this fact caused interest of the EUMM in Georgia. On 27 April, they had an informal meeting with the representatives of SO at the borderline with Leningori district, at which they expressed their interest in the details of Bedoeva's detention. They also reported that the Georgian side disclaimed the fact of Bedoeva's detention by the Georgian Interior Ministry representatives and presented the situation as if "Bedoeva had been detained by the South Ossetian side and the Ossetians themselves demanded for a ransom of 3,500 USD".
To comment on the fact, the SO law enforcement representatives considered it quite odd that so far none of international human rights organizations on the territory of Georgia, as well as the Swiss Embassy representing Russia's interests, had not show any interest in the fate of the RF citizen V.Bedoeva and her children.
