Kulakhmetov: arrested residents of South Ossetia beaten by Georgians

Marat Kulakhmetov, commander of Combined Peacekeeping Forces (CPKF), states that "the Georgian party has set free 41 Ossetians. However, the situation in the conflict zone remains grave." According to him, "48, rather than 41 persons have been arrested. But the Georgian party claims that it has arrested 41 persons. We are clarifying the issue now." "A lot of those released have been beaten. This morning, the Ossetian party has released a regular bus with Georgian citizens which headed from Tbilisi to Nikozi," he says. In his opinion, all these facts lead to the conclusion that "the situation in the conflict zone has not stabilized yet." "I can say that one party is provoking the other," states Kulakhmetov. When asked which party, the Georgian or the Ossetian, he means, Kulakhmetov said: "In the course of yesterday, it was obviously the Georgian party." He states that, so far, the Georgian police fail to give the reasons why the residents of South Ossetia have been arrested.

According to the "Novosti" news agency, he says that the Georgians arrested on Saturday were released on May 28 at 10 a.m. after checking their documents.

It was earlier reported that on May 27 the Georgian police arrested more than 50 Ossetians in the Georgia-Ossetia conflict zone. They were brought to the Shida Kartly regional police station in the town of Gori and kept there until late at night. Some of the persons detained claimed that they had been beaten by the police.

For reference, during the night of May 21, an armed group of Georgians attacked the village of Khelchua. Shooting took place resulting in two of the attackers, Eliauri and Sabanashvili, being killed. On the Ossetian side, Atzamaz Khugaev, 28, received gunshot wounds in his thorax and waist and knife wounds in his back.

Meanwhile, a military parade took place in Tbilisi on May 27, with more than 18,000 participants. Some people think that, after the demonstration of its power, Georgia started attacks against the Combined Peacekeeping Forces and the civil population of South Ossetia.