Mearakishvili was expelled from South Ossetia to Georgia.

Activist Tamara Mearakishvili, detained on espionage charges, has been deported from South Ossetia by court order and returned to Georgia. Her lawyer reported that he was not warned of her client's deportation.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on December 23, Georgian citizen Tamara Mearakishvili, who was taken to a South Ossetian Ministry of Internal Affairs detention center, refused food. On December 29, she also refused medication and water, going on a dry hunger strike. This occurred after a representative of the penitentiary department commented on her refusal to end the hunger strike, saying, "Never mind, there'll be one less Georgian." On December 30, Mearakishvili was hospitalized, and formal charges were filed the same day.

Tamara Mearakishvili has been deported to Georgia, the state-run news agency "Res" reported today, citing the South Ossetian Prosecutor General's Office. "By a decision of the Tskhinvali City Court on December 31, based on a ruling by the Prosecutor General of the Republic of South Ossetia, Georgian citizen Tamara Akakievna Mearakishvili was expelled from the Republic of South Ossetia," the agency quoted the Prosecutor General's Office as saying.

I was not informed that she had been taken away.

Mearakishvili's lawyer, Alan Bazzaev, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that he learned of this from the media. "I was not informed that she had been taken from the hospital to the court." "The expulsion is an administrative matter, and I believe that's why I wasn't informed," he said.

The Georgian State Security Service confirmed that Tamara Mearakishvili "has been released from detention in Tskhinvali and is in Tbilisi-controlled territory," Georgia News reported today.

As a reminder, on December 22, Mearakishvili fell offline. Prior to this, she told friends that unknown individuals had entered the apartment she rents in Tskhinvali through the balcony. Security forces had previously been seen near the apartment, knocking on the door and speaking with neighbors.

On December 24, the Tskhinvali City Court ordered the activist to be remanded in custody. Georgian activists called the case fabricated and called on the country's authorities to speak out in their Defense. Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani and Georgian female politicians also called for Mearakishvili's release.

Mearakishvili is being persecuted for her civic stance, and this case damages the reputation of the South Ossetian authorities, human rights activists believe.