Georgian Citizen Charged with Spying in Abkhazia
The security service of Russian-occupied Abkhazia filed charges of spying against 24-year-old Kristine Takalandze who lives in Nabakevi village, in the ethnic Georgian majority Gali district on July 25.
Takalandze, who is a Georgian citizen, was detained in her home during a special operation on July 20. She faces ten to fifteen years imprisonment under Article 274 of the Abkhaz criminal code on the grounds that she went against the constitution and the Abkhazian “state.”
In the video of her arrest, law enforcement officers can be seen rummaging through Takalandze’s personal belongings, to find three Georgian IDs, a pharmacy card, a Liberty bank card, a sim card, and a Georgian marriage certificate. They also found a letter from an individual asking an unidentified person to bring back medicine from Zugdidi, a Western Georgian city near the region, and another partially burned letter.
The Security Service of Georgia (SSG) told Civil.ge on July 26 that they immediately activated the hotline to inform the EU Monitoring Mission and Geneva International Discussion’s co-chairs of the “illegal” detention.
They emphasized that all available mechanisms are being used to release Takalandze as soon as possible. “Illegal detentions carried out by the occupation regime complicate the daily life of the local population and severely damage the security environment,” they added.
Also Read:
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)