TBILISI, DFWatch – Four Georgians have been detained after having crossed into the breakaway region South Ossetia.

The four were detained on May 21 and 22 after going on a trip to pick staphylea, a plant which is used for common sour dish in Georgia.

Shota Utiashvili, head of the Interior Ministry’s Department for Analysis, spoke to Georgian media about the detentions and said Georgia will raise the issue of having them released today at the 23th meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism.

The meeting will be held at Ergneti, a village near the administrative border.

These meetings have been held since February 2009, and come as a measure to defuse tension and clear up misunderstandings following the Russo-Georgian war in 2008.

The meetings are often used for negotiations about prisoner exchange.