(Tbilisi, December 17, 2002. Civil Georgia) – At the trial in Tbilisi court today two citizens of Georgia, detained near the Russian border in August did not plead guilty for illegal crossing the border and carrying arms.
Georgian border guards detained Giorgi Kushtanashvili and Robinson Margoshvili, ethnic Kists, together with 11 armed Chechens near the Russian border.
Georgian State Security Ministry charged all the alleged militants for illegal crossing the border and carrying weapons.
Georgia refused to hand over Kushtanashvili and Margoshvili to the Russian side, as they are Georgian citizens.