Using the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism format to promote biased narratives for propaganda purposes is extremely counterproductive, the South Ossetian KGB noted, commenting on the Georgian State Security Service statement.
“The Georgian State Security Service has issued another biased statement with unconstructive rhetoric regarding the content of the meeting in the IPRM format,” the KGB said. - In particular, the SGB makes a far-fetched claim that at the venue of the said event, “representatives of the Security Service (of Georgia) once again demanded that those guilty of the murder of Tamaz Ginturi be severely punished” (a Georgian citizen who, while intoxicated, illegally crossed into the border territory of the Republic of South Ossetia, where he committed a number of hooligan and vandalistic acts, and later attacked a patrol of the border authorities of South Ossetia, during which he was shot).”
The KGB has explained that at the meeting held on April 3 in the format of the IPRM, the issue regarding Ginturi was casually mentioned by the Georgian party in the context of the allegedly improper investigation of this incident.
"However, during the subsequent discussion, the parties did not touch upon it, which is not surprising, since, apart from routine rhetoric, it is difficult to provide any arguments justifying the actions of a person who is trying to break down the doors of a sanctuary with an axe and intentionally run over a border patrol with a car," the Committee has noted.
They added that the wording regularly used by the Tbilisi representatives about the "persons held in illegal detention" causes misunderstanding.
"Indeed, ten Georgian citizens have been detained in South Ossetia, who were previously detained by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic within the framework of current legal norms for committing a criminal offense - illegally crossing the state border," the department has noted.
The press service noted that "representatives of South Ossetia have repeatedly called on the Georgian side to take measures to prevent the illegal crossings of the Georgian citizens into the Republic, as well as to begin the process of bilateral demarcation and delimitation of the South Ossetian-Georgian border, which undoubtedly contributes to increasing the security of the border residents."
"In addition, based on considerations of humanism, the authorities of South Ossetia have repeatedly released the Georgian citizens convicted of illegal crossings into the Republic and handed them over to representatives of official Tbilisi. However, to date, the Georgian party, unfortunately, has stubbornly demonstrated a destructive position on this issue, which will be taken into account in the future in the work of the South Ossetian law enforcement agencies," the KGB has emphasized. - We also believe that the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism platform is intended solely to ensure security and promptly resolve acute humanitarian issues, and its use to promote biased narratives for propaganda purposes, which the Georgian side regularly engages in, is extremely counterproductive."
