Tskhinvali Reluctant to Release Tatunashvili’s Body

The 85th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting in Ergneti, which was held on March 1 to discuss the handover of Archil Tatunashvili’s body and the return of two other Georgian citizens to the Tbilisi-controlled territory, proved unsuccessful.

Kakhaber Kemoklidze, deputy head at the Georgian State Security Service’s department of information and analysis, said after the meeting that the Georgian side “failed to receive a clear answer to any of the two questions” from Tskhinvali authorities.

“We decided to temporarily suspend the meeting since Tatunashvili’s case is extremely important for the central government,” Kemoklidze said, adding that Tbilisi was ready “to continue discussions on all other important agenda items” after the two issues were settled.

The EU Monitoring Mission, which co-facilitated the meeting, reported in its press release that the 85th IPRM meeting “was adjourned,” and would “resume on a date to be agreed by the participants.”

Tskhinvali representative, on his part, pointed out that the meeting was suspended by the Georgian representative, “who was unsatisfied by the clear information that was provided by South Ossetia.”

Archil Tatunashvili’s family members, who live in Tsilkani settlement of internally displaced persons from Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, have been requesting the transfer of his body to the Tbilisi-administered territory, but Tskhinvali representatives have rejected the request, saying the body would not be released to the family until an “independent examination” of Tskhinvali autopsy’s materials was conducted in Russia.