16:28, 7 September 2021

US citizen extradited from South Ossetia for trespassing

The border of Georgia with South Ossetia. Photo by the press service of the State Security Committee (known as KGB) in South Ossetia https://www.facebook.com/komitetgosbezopasnosti.southossetia/photos/a.465734606932231/465737340265291/?type=3&theater

In South Ossetia, in the Dzau District, agents of the State Security Committee (known as KGB) have detained and expelled to Georgia a US citizen who had violated the border.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in May 2021, activists of the "Strength in Unity" movement staged protest actions on the border with South Ossetia against the installation of warning signs and fences. Then, the KGB of the unrecognized republic warned that activists were creating "prerequisites for border incidents."

On July 3, 2019, the "Caucasian Knot" published, together with the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI), a report on human rights violations as a result of "borderization" in Georgia. The restrictions imposed on crossing the demarcation line with Abkhazia and South Ossetia violate the rights of residents of border villages who cannot manage their households and face the risk of being detained, the report stated.

Jackson Paul Kramer, a US citizen, was brought to administrative responsibility and expelled from South Ossetia, the press service of the South-Ossetian KGB has informed.

According to the press service, Mr Kramer arrived in Georgia on August 14 to pass the walking route along the Main Caucasian Ridge. However, in Georgia he was unable to obtain complete information about the Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhaz conflicts; therefore he violated the South-Ossetian-Georgian border.

In its turn, the State Security Service (SSS) of Georgia asserts that Russia bears full responsibility for illegal detentions of citizens in the occupied territories of Georgia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 7, 2021 at 00:44 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent