Renewed tension in South Ossetia. A Georgian who died in prison
(B2) The death of a citizen of Georgia, Archil Tatunashvili, aged 35, on Friday 23 (February), in Tskhinvali in South Ossetia, is causing renewed tension in this Caucasian republic. Ossetian authorities say he died of cardiac arrest. But his family maintains that he was killed by the regime.
Fell down the stairs and died of a heart attack
The official version of the state security committee » Ossetian (KGB) as reported by the online media civil.ge indeed lends itself to doubt. Arrested the day before in Akhalgori, Archil Tatunashvili has been " taken to Tskhinvali for questioning ". While being transferred to a holding cell after being interrogated, Tatunashvili “ resisted ". He " was injured, fell to the ground and rolled down the stairs. Taken to Tskhinvali hospital, he died Two hours later ". NB: An incident which occurs just when the Danish Foreign Minister, Anders Samuelsen, was visiting Georgia, in particular to the EUMM Georgia mission now led by a Dane.
A member of the Georgian Armed Forces
The Ossetian KGB who arrested him " during one of his visits to South Ossetia suspects him of being a member of the Georgian armed forces. A point that Tbilisi did not deny. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili wanted to pay tribute to the man who has been " kidnapped and killed » in the occupied region. He acknowledged that Tatunashvili was a military who has served world peace and security in international missions » . " He didn't fire a single bullet in Georgia (contrary to what the Ossetian authorities claim). The « served his own country and after his military service, lived a life as a peaceful citizen he clarified. « It's a murder of an innocent person. I can't call this incident anything else. It is crucial that this evidence is supported by evidence » visiting the family of the deceased in the Tsilkani IDP camp (see here).
Two other Georgians arrested
His father, himself a soldier, and veteran of the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, does not believe the version of the Ossetian authorities, just like the version of his death reports the television channel 1 TV. " My son was healthy he says. Archil's body Tatunashvili should be repatriated this week, according to the Georgian authorities via the village of Ergneti. Two other Georgians, Levan Kutashvili and Ioseb Pavliashvili, had also been imprisoned since February 22. They were released but remain detained in South Ossetia, officially for the purposes of the investigation.
The EUMM Georgia mission offers its good offices
The European Monitoring Mission on the Demarcation Line (EUMM Georgia) offered its good offices. In a press release, she said to herself as follows: ready to " support ongoing investigations and facilitate discussions through the Ergneti Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (1). It considers it to be of a " paramount importance of establishing cooperation so that all necessary information is exchanged to determine the cause of death of the deceased " and says look forward to full, thorough and transparent reviews of Mr. Tatunashvili's death ».
Additional confidence-building measures needed
The European Union reacted through the spokesperson for the High Representative of the Union, Federica Mogherini. Without expressly condemning the incident, it asks that the two Georgian citizens regain their complete freedom of movement and be able to " travel to the territory administered by Tbilisi (NB: Georgia in diplomatic language). This incident shows the need for additional measures to ensure transparency and improve trust » she insists (download the communicated).
The issue on the agenda of the Council of Foreign Ministers?
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius condemned “ The persecution of Georgian citizens ". " I demand that international human rights and security mechanisms be put in place he added, indicating that he counted “raise this subject at the meeting of foreign ministers of the European Union gathered this Monday (26 February) in Brussels.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
(1) NB: Une meeting of the Ergneti mechanism is scheduled for March 1.
