Tskhinvali Requests Exchange of Prisoners

Mari Otarashvili, Akhalgori

Tskhinvali requests exchange of prisoners under the principle “all in all!” Human Rights Center was reported from Tskhinvali that they expect release of 12 prisoners from Georgian prisons. In exchange, they promise to free all Georgian prisoners from their jails.

Exchange of prisoners has been hot topic of all Georgian-Ossetian negotiations; however, for uncertain reasons principle “all in all” has never worked.

Analytical Department of the Georgian MIA welcomes the initiative of exchanging prisoners but they say that some circumstances hinder the process. “Every prisoner is equal for us. We cannot say exact number of our prisoners in Tskhinvali jails. As for the exchange process, we welcome it but first we should reach agreement on the categories of charges. Some prisoners have committed grave crimes.”

Representatives of South Ossetia’s de-facto government demanded exchange of prisoners with the principle ‘all in all” during the last week meeting in Ergneti. Concrete steps were taken last year, when Georgian side released Marek Dudaev and de-facto government released Teimuraz Jeparov.

Director of the Caucasus House Giorgi Kanashvili is frequent participant of Georgian-Ossetian civil society meetings; he believes exchange of prisoners is political topic and finally it could have positive feedback. According to his information, after the government changed in Georgia, family members of Ossetian prisoners often travel to the Georgia-controlled territories and visit their relatives in prisons.

Ombudsman Ucha Nanuashvili often visits ethnic Ossetian prisoners in Georgian penitentiary establishments. He said there are many questions about their cases and they should be revised. “I think ethnic Ossetian prisoners shall be exchanged into Georgian prisoners, who were imprisoned in Tskhinvali for different charges. There are 12 Georgian convicts in Tskhinvali. The state shall take all measures to release them from imprisonment.”

The Ombudsman clarified that he does not mean only those Ossetian prisoners, who were arrested during Gori terrorist act, but others whose total number is at least 7. As for Georgian prisoners in Tskhinvali prison, their number is 12.

On February 1, 2005, 3 people were killed and about 30 people wounded as a result of explosion at Gori Regional Police Office. The accident was immediately qualified as a terrorist act. Former government of Georgia declared the terrorist act was response to the peacebuilding initiative of the ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, which he proposed to Ossetian and Abkhaz people from the office of the Council of Europe.

Former officers of the Counter-Intelligence Department of the MIA arrested Gia Valiev, Gia Zaseev and Ioseb Kochiev for the Gori terrorist act on July 11, 2005 as a result of the special operation in Tskhinvali. The MIA reported: “It was well-organized group of criminals, who acted under instructions of the Russian Intelligence Service officers to organize terrorist acts in Shida Kartli region.”