An American citizen who violated the state border of South Ossetia was brought to administrative responsibility and expelled from the Republic; the press service of the Republic's KGB reports.
“On August 26, officers of the Border Guard Service of the KGB of South Ossetia in the area of the settlement of Upper Erman (Dzau district), a violator of the state border with Georgia was detained. During the investigation, it was established that he was a US citizen Jackson Paul Kramer, born November 9, 1997, a native of the sate North Carolina,” the KGB clarified.
Jackson Paul Kramer said that he had arrived in Georgia on August 14 in order to go through a walking route laid along the entire Main Caucasian ridge, starting from the border with Azerbaijan, ending with the coast of Abkhazia, through the territory of South Ossetia.
“Regarding the reasons for the illegal crossing of the state border of South Ossetia and Georgia, the US citizen explained that, being in America and immediately after arriving in Georgia, he could not, through the official American and Georgian media, as well as various tourist materials, receive comprehensive information about the Georgian-Ossetian and the Georgian-Abkhazian conflicts, the events of August 2008, as well as the modern international status of the Republic of South Ossetia, ”he noted.
For this reason, D. Kramer laid the route without taking into account the existing political realities, which led to his violation of the functioning of the state border regime between the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia.
“On September 6, Jackson Paul Kramer was brought to administrative responsibility and, in accordance with Article 14 of the State Border Law, was expelled and handed over to the Georgian side,” the press service said.
The KGB claims that responsibility for the crisis situation caused by the violation of the border of South Ossetia by the US citizen and his detention rests entirely with the leadership of the United States and Georgia, which not only refuse to recognize the existence of South Ossetia as the independent state, but purposefully hide from the US citizens arriving in Georgia for tourist purposes, the information on the existence of the State Border between the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia.
“We believe that the full provision of personal safety of foreign tourists choosing Georgia as a place of rest is possible only after the completion of the process of delimitation and demarcation of the State Border of South Ossetia, as well as providing all citizens of the third countries with comprehensive information about the state border line with Georgia and the mode of its functioning. ", - the KGB noted.
The KGB reminds representatives of all diplomatic missions and international organizations working in Georgia that illegal crossing of the State Border can be classified as a criminal offense and punishable by up to two years' imprisonment.
