On 4 January 2010, special services of Georgia abducted a citizen of South Ossetia Gennady Pliev from the southern outskirts of Tskhinval adjacent to the borderline with Georgia. Reportedly, he received criminal charges in Georgia and placed in a pre-trial detention facility. The authorities of South Ossetia invited the EU military monitors (EUMM) who could see on the ground that the abduction was made 400-500 meters from the state border between South Ossetia and Georgia, where evidences of fighting and blood were still visible proving a forceful seizure of Pliev. In the meantime, the explanation given by the authorities of Georgia seemed senseless. They vary from the allegations that Pliev was detained on the territory of Georgia in the village of Nikozi and that he was armed, or he voluntary crossed the border and asked for asylum, or he was claimed to be an “Ossetian terrorist”.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of South Osseti considers the incident as another provocation of Georgian special services actively involved in the area adjacent to the border with South Ossetia to aggravate the situation and trigger violations at the borderline, and these actions are targeted against South Ossetian citizens, in response to the peaceful and humane actions of South Ossetian authorities in relation to residents of Georgia who had committed crimes on the territory of South Ossetia. The Ministry is calling on the international agencies responsible for stability in the region and to human rights agencies to facilitate release of Gennady Pliev and to prevent aggravation of the situation.
Tskhinval, 6 January 2010
