South Ossetia releases citizens of Georgia detained near border

Four Georgian citizens detained by South Ossetian border guards on suspicion of crossing the border illegally are released. The court in South Ossetia has obliged each of them to pay the fine in the amount of 2000 roubles.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 19, South Ossetian border guards detained four natives of the village of Speti of the Sachkhere District of Georgia not far from the village of Abano-Nagutni in the Znauri District. They were suspected of crossing the border illegally.

The Georgian citizens have been released after the court in South Ossetia found them guilty of illegal border crossing and obliged each of them to pay the fine in the amount of 2000 roubles, the "InterPressNews" reports on May 21 with reference to the detainees.

According to the villagers, at the time of detention they were eight kilometres from the border, on the territory controlled by Georgia. "At first, we were questioned at the Znauri detention facility, and from there we were brought to Tskhinvali. Finally, we were released after the trial," the "InterPressNews" quotes one of the detained citizens of Georgia as saying.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.