US calls on South-Ossetian authorities to release Gaprindashvili

The US Embassy in Georgia has demanded the release Vazha Gaprindashvili, an orthopaedist, convicted in South Ossetia for violating its border with Georgia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 15, a South-Ossetian court ruled to detain doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, the president of the Georgian Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatologists, for two months. On December 20, the court sentenced him to a year and nine months in prison, after finding him guilty of violating the border.

On December 20, the US Embassy to Georgia released a statement demanding the authorities of South Ossetia to release Gaprindashvili. It says that the US government treats the sentence passed to Gaprindashvili as illegitimate and calls on the South-Ossetian authorities to "immediately release the doctor," the "Interfax" quotes the Embassy's statement on December 21.

The USA has also appealed to Russia for help in this matter, since, in its opinion, "persons in the Russian Federation ... have some influence over them (the leadership of South Ossetia)."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 21, 2019 at 04:36 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.