According to security forces, she collected and transmitted information about strategically important sites while in South Ossetia. The prosecutor's office did not name the detainee, but the agency's statement was released amid the disappearance of activist Tamara Mearakishvili. Before Mearakishvili went silent, she told friends that unknown individuals had entered her rented apartment in Tskhinvali through the balcony. Security forces had previously been seen near the apartment, knocking on the door and speaking with neighbors. Before their visit, Mearakishvili announced on social media that she would be going on a hunger strike starting December 23 in protest against the "arbitrariness of the authorities." On December 24, the Tskhinvali City Court ordered a two-month pretrial detention for the activist. Georgian activists called the case fabricated and called on the country's authorities to intervene in her defense. Mearakishvili is being persecuted for her civic stance, and this case damages the reputation of the South Ossetian authorities, human rights activists believe.
Tamara Mearakishvili, who is on a hunger strike, has been hospitalized. According to her lawyer, Mearakishvili was taken to the hospital on December 30, presumably after his last meeting with his client, Sapa reports, citing her lawyer, Alan Bazzaev.
"She's in good spirits, but she feels very weak," the publication quotes Bazzaev as saying. Despite her deteriorating health, she refuses to end her hunger strike, her lawyer added. Bazzaev also confirmed that she was formally charged today.
Tbilisi commented on Mearakishvili's case. Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani called her detention in Tskhinvali on charges of espionage a restriction on the human rights defender's freedom of expression and calls for her immediate release, according to Pirveli TV.
"Tamara Mearakishvili, a human rights defender, has collaborated with both local and international media for many years, actively reporting on issues in the Akhalgori district. This, she says, has led to her detention several times in the past. Her identity documents were confiscated, and she was prohibited from leaving the occupied territories. The Public Defender views Tamara Mearakishvili's arrest as a restriction on the human rights defender's freedom of speech and calls on the authorities to immediately release her," the Public Defender's statement reads.
Georgian female politicians have also spoken out in support of Mearakishvili. In a joint statement, they called on the Georgian authorities to utilize international mechanisms to secure her release.
"The Georgian government must do everything possible to end Tamara Mearakishvili's illegal detention, including by appealing to the Western co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions and using other international mechanisms. However, the public remains unaware of the effective steps the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the State Security Service are taking. Their inaction is more noticeable than their work," the statement from Georgian female politicians read.
Dr. Vazha Gaprindashvili says Tamara Mearakishvili is likely being held in unbearable conditions in Tskhinvali prison. He asked the activist to end her dry hunger strike, as it will further worsen her condition. According to him, Mearakishvili is doing significant work in the region, and therefore a healthy country needs it.
Vazha Gaprindashvili is a well-known doctor in Georgia and the president of the Association of Orthopedists and Traumatologists. At the end of 2019, he was arrested in South Ossetia, where he went to visit a patient. Gaprindashvili was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on charges of "border violation," but was actually released earlier due to a pardon. Gaprindashvili spent about a month and a half in the Tskhinvali prison.
"Of course, Tamara is in difficult conditions, especially while on a dry hunger strike. Considering that our puppet government is paying no attention to the hunger strikers and their plight, several prisoners are continuing their hunger strike today, and there's been no response from our government. I don't believe Tskhinvali will react in any way," Gaprindashvili stated.
![Tumso Abdurakhmanov. Screenshot from video posted by Abu-Saddam Shishani [LIVE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIR3s7AB0Uw](/system/uploads/article_image/image/0001/18460/main_image_Tumso.jpg "Tumso Abdurakhmanov. Screenshot from video posted by Abu-Saddam Shishani [LIVE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIR3s7AB0Uw")