At the meeting of the participants of the Mechanisms for Prevention and Response to Incidents, the Georgian party confirmed the fact of drone flights that regularly violate the state border, this recognition on their part surprised the South Ossetian delegation, - said the head of the South Ossetian delegation, Yegor Kochiev, upon completion of the 103rd meeting. in the IPRM format.
According to him, confirming the fact that they owned unmanned aerial vehicles, the Georgian party says that they fly strictly on the Georgian territory.
“However, this is not true. I think that in the end we will solve this problem,” Kochiev said.
As for the number of violators of the state border by citizens of Georgia, their number since the last meeting of the IPRM is 17 people.
"Most often, a humane approach is applied to violators of the state border, and they are simply expelled to the territory of Georgia without penalties, except in cases where the violating citizen has not previously committed any offenses," the head of the IPRM delegation explained.
The illegal post must be removed
During the dialogue, the parties discussed security issues and issues related to the coronavirus pandemic. According to Yegor Kochiev, several problematic issues of interest and special concern of the South Ossetian party were voiced: the main one was the situation in the area of the village of Uista (Tsnelis), where several years ago the Georgian police had set up the illegal post on the territory of South Ossetia.
“This issue has remained unresolved since then, despite the fact that we held several technical meetings within the framework of the IPRM. Since then, we have raised this issue at every IPRM meeting, but today the problem has not been resolved. This post poses a threat to the local population, and not only in this area, but throughout the region. Security problems are connected with the setting up of the illegal Georgian post on the territory of the Republic almost throughout the state border between South Ossetia and Georgia," he said
Kochiev has added that the South Ossetian party is trying to solve this problem and insists that the illegal Georgian post be removed from the territory of South Ossetia. "The destabilization of the situation occurred precisely with the setting up of this post and detente is possible only with its removal and the departure of the Georgian police to the territory of Georgia," the Deputy Envoy has noted, adding that nothing has changed in the position of the Georgian side on this issue.
“Very often the Georgian party tries to avoid solving this problem altogether, naming some non-existent posting of the South Ossetian side. I can assure you that all posts, patrols or generally actions of the border guards or law enforcement agencies of South Ossetia take place strictly on the territory of the Republic and in no way violate the territory of Georgia and do not pose a threat to the Georgian side, "Kochiev said.
Humane approach
On the eve, President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov signed a decree pardoning the Georgian citizen Gennady Bestayevi, who had been serving a sentence in South Ossetia. Bestayevi was detained for border trespassing and drug smuggling and was sentenced to three years and two months in prison. This information is actively discussed in the Georgian media space, politicizing the decision of the South Ossetian leadership. As noted by Kochiev, this issue was also raised at the IPRM meeting.
“Once again, the Georgian party is trying to politicize this issue. Firstly, the citizen Bestayevi, who is serving a sentence in the Tskhinval correctional institution, was not released, as the Georgian media report, but was pardoned by the president. He had a hypertensive crisis; he was hospitalized with suspected stroke in the Republican hospital. Since he is a citizen of Georgia, we immediately notified the Georgian party of the situation with their citizen. The Georgian side asked us to hand him over to him so that he could receive medical assistance in Georgia,” the Deputy Envoy explained.
Kochiev clarified that since it was impossible to do so, a decision was made to pardon him even after his transfer to the Georgian side.
“The very process of transferring Bestayevi was very humane, a resuscitator from Georgia arrived at the medical facility in South Ossetia and took him away, after which an operation was performed in one of the Georgian medical facilities, and at the moment he is undergoing further treatment. Since transportation with a stroke is undesirable, before sending him, the doctors conducted an examination to make sure how safe his transportation is,” Kochiev said.
The head of the South Ossetian delegation assured that all the statements of the Georgian party, that allegedly in South Ossetia, citizen Bestayevi was mistreated and brought to a stroke, had no basis.
“This information is being circulated in the Georgian media in order to catch, as it is now fashionable to say, on this hype. They will use the Bestaevi case as a political tool and they are not at all interested in the fate of this person,” Yegor Kochiev believes.
The next meeting in the IPRM format will be held next year - presumably on January 20. The meetings are attended by representatives of South Ossetia, Russia, Georgia and the OSCE.
