On Friday South Ossetia handed over to Georgia a citizen previously convicted of illegally crossing the state border.
"In connection with the expiration of the sentence, Mgebrishvili Khvicha Avtandilovich, born 1973, resident of the village of Medzhvriskhevi, Gori municipality, was handed over to the Georgian side. He was detained on July 3, 2020 in the vicinity of the village of Adzysaer, Tskhinval district for violation of the state border regime of South Ossetia, "the KGB said on Friday.
A citizen of Georgia, Khvicha Mgebrishvili, was found guilty by the Tskhinval District Court of committing a crime under Art. 322 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Illegal crossing of the State Border" and sentenced to three months in prison.
Referring to the reasons for his penetration in to the territory of South Ossetia, Mgebrishvili explained to the officers of the South Ossetian KGB Border Service that the main subject of his interest in the Republic was the colonies of bats in the villages of Artseu and Grom of the Tskhinval district.
According to Mgebrishvili, he intended to get the so-called “Bat cocoons” for subsequent sale in Georgia at a price of 5000 US dollars per piece.
