Monday, February 13, 2012

Georgia

Georgians Abducted In South Ossetia

6 December 2005 -- Authorities in Tbilisi say 20 ethnic Georgians, including at least three policemen, were abducted today in the separatist republic of South Ossetia.

TEXT SIZE - +

December 06, 2005

Georgian officials blame armed South Ossetians for the incident, which took place near the ethnic Ossetian village of Dmenisi.

Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili demanded that South Ossetian authorities and Russian peacekeepers stationed in the conflict zone secure the immediate release of the prisoners.

On 5 December, Georgian security forces arrested a South Ossetian police officer on counterfeiting charges. News report say the officer was wounded during the operation, which took place near an ethnic Georgian in South Ossetia, Ergneti.

Russia, which has close ties with South Ossetia, on 5 December accused Georgia of escalating tensions in the region.

(Imedi TV/Prime News/Novosti Gruziya)

RFE/RL Caucasus Report

SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and in-depth analysis on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia's North Caucasus by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Caucasus Report."

President Serzh Sarkisian has promised fair elections

Prospect Of Vote-Rigging Overshadows Upcoming Armenian Parliamentary Election

The Armenian parliamentary elections due in May will not simply be a struggle between rival political parties with diverging priorities and platforms. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Former KGB head Leonid Tibilov is a presidential hopeful.

Repeat South Ossetian Election Campaign Gathers Momentum

The run-up to the repeat election on March 24 for a new de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia bears an uncanny resemblance to last November's election campaign. More