Tskhinvali Releases U.S. Citizen

On 24 August U.S. Citizen Frank Yanez was released by Tskhinvali and returned to Tbilisi-controlled territory, according to Tskhinvali-based RES.

Per the article, Yanez, born in 1999, was detained by occupation forces on 27 July near Balaani village in Akhalgori, the occupied region’s ethnic Georgian majority district.

Tskhinvali claimed that responsibility for the incident rests with “the leadership of Georgia and the United States, which refuse to recognize the sovereignty of South Ossetia…”

According to the article, this is the second incident when a U.S. citizen has been detained by occupation forces.

The State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) retorted that the “occupying power bears full responsibility for the destructive actions carried out in the occupied regions of Georgia and along the occupation line.”

They denoted that in Yanez’s case, both the hotline mechanism and other tools at the government’s disposal were actively used. Information was also continuously provided to the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and international partners.

They concluded that the Georgian Government continues to actively work to release all illegally detained persons both in occupied Tskhinvali and Abkhazia.

Note: The Article was updated on August 24 at 15:45 to reflect the SSG’s statement.

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