11:10, 26 May 2004

Tbilisi court sentences natives of Chechnya, Kistin to 4 year's imprisonment

A Tbilisi court sentenced four natives of Chechnya - Khanchukayev, Magomedov, Isayev and Aliyev, and Kushtanashvili, who is a Kistin (Editor's note: Kistins are ethnic Chechens living in Georgia), to 4 years' imprisonment on May 25.

These people were among 13 Chechens detained in August 2002 while crossing the Georgian-Russian border. In 2003, after the case had been considered by lower courts, the Supreme Court found them not guilty of trespassing on the Georgian territory as the detainees did it without criminal purposes but in order to save their lives. The court took into account the fact that the Chechens voluntarily gave themselves up to Georgian frontier guards.

In spite of the decision by the Supreme Court, the detained Chechens were not released from custody as they were charged with disobedience and resistance to Georgian law enforcers. The detained Chechens started a fight with an escort in a temporary detention isolator in Tbilisi. They did is to protest against the extradition to Russia of 5 Chechens of those 13 detained at the border.

Source: Novosti-Gruzia Information Agency