In South Ossetia, convicts of treason released

Tamara Charaeva and Givi Chigoev, residents of Akhalgori village, South Ossetia, accused of treason by Ossetian authorities, have been released. This was reported by Avtandil Kochishvili, head of the administration of the Akhalgori District.

The authorities of South Ossetia have launched mass repressions against those Ossetians, who on November 12, 2006, took part in alternative election of President of South Ossetia held in the territory earlier controlled by Tbilisi, as a source in the MIA of Georgia said on March 7.

Tskhinvali has refuted this information, however, Taimuraz Khugaev, General Public Prosecutor of South Ossetia, has explained that the law enforcement bodies had indeed detained "citizen of South Ossetia Chigoev, born in 1954, and woman-citizen of Georgia Charaeva, T. I., born in 1950."

Avtandil Kochishvili said that now the former detainees are at home, and their health condition is satisfactory, as the "Gazeta.Ru" writes.

According to some sources the liberation took place after interference of Thomas Hammarberg, High Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, as the "Rosbalt" writes.

Mr Hammarberg was informed about the situation by Georgian Ombudsman Sozar Subari. The latter's message to the CE's Commissioner ran that the detainees were elderly persons and had health problems. Givi Chigoev was recently operated on. According to preliminary data, he had a heart attack, while being kept in the isolation facility in South Ossetia; however, he was not given medical aid. Tamara Charaeva suffers from asthma.

The IA "News Georgia" reports that until recently Chigoev worked in Sanakoev's administration, and Charaeva was a teacher at the Akhalgori secondary school.