Tbilisi: Levan Machabeli, a 35-year-old former Georgian soldier, who had been illegally detained by the Russian Occupation Forces near the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia ) region in March, was released on Wednesday as per the Georgian State Security Service.
In its statement, the agency stated that it had used the hotline mechanism and other tools at the disposal of the Georgian Government to carry out the communication regarding the release of Machabeli, with the de-facto authorities of the occupied region. The ex-soldier had been accused of crossing the border ‘illegally’ by the Russian Occupation Forces.
The issue of the release of Machabeli from illegal detention was regularly discussed in the format of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, and the information was constantly provided to the co-chairs of the international discussions in Geneva and international partners” as the official statement of State Security Service read.
Furthermore, the agency has promised to keep up the ‘active’ work for having the other illegally detained Georgian citizens by the Russian forces in the occupied region of Tskhinvali and Abkhazia regions.
The Tskhinvali de facto security agency, in its previous statements, claimed that Levan Machabeli had active participation in the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Moreover, he was planning to take part against Russia in the ongoing war in Ukraine but withdrew due to his poor health.
“As he was unable to leave for Ukraine to fight there, Machabeli decided to stage a provocation and cause harm to Russians stationed in Tskhinvali – the agency stated after Machabeli’s arrest in April.
The Georgians have been facing the issues of illegal detentions near the line of occupation and released upon payment of penalty by their families. Russia had declared the independence of Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions in August 2008, post the war.
