TBILISI, September 15 – A Georgian citizen who was detained earlier this month near the occupation line has been released and returned to territory controlled by the central government, authorities confirmed.
According to Georgia’s State Security Service, Hamlet Margvelashvili was taken on September 8 near the village of Zemo Khviti, in Gori municipality, an area close to the dividing line with Russian-controlled South Ossetia. His detention was described as illegal by Georgian officials.
The Security Service said it continues to work for the release of all Georgian citizens held in illegal custody on the occupied territories.
Border detentions have long been a flashpoint along the administrative boundary separating Georgian-controlled land from the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which has been backed by Russia since the 2008 war.
