Soros Foundation head detention details

David Darchiashvili, head of the Soros Foundation office in Georgia, and journalists Mamuka Kuparadze and Maia Chigoeva-Tsaboshvili were detained by law enforcement agencies in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, in the evening on July 15. The reason for detention was to find out the aim of the Georgian journalists' visit, because the South Ossetian Information and Press Committee had not been notified of this visit.

The Georgian NGO representatives said they were going to Tskhinvali to meet with Mr. Gassiev, adviser to the South Ossetian president. It remains unknown how their taxi was allowed into the city, because Georgian journalists are not allowed to enter the city without prior adjustment with the Information and Press Ministry. The journalists say they were left on their own during the day, as no one of their partners had attended the scheduled meeting.

South Ossetian NGO representatives express some perplexity at the fact that David Darchiashvili and the journalists did not try to find people in the city whom they knew for their previous joint projects. In doing so, however, the Ossetian NGO representatives also express sincere regret for what happened.