20 Aug 2019 19:15

S.Ossetia expels 8 Georgian border-violators

TSKHINVAL. Aug 20 (Interfax) - The eight Georgian citizens, who were held by South Ossetian border guards last weekend for illegal border-crossing near the village of Adzesar, were handed over to Georgian authorities on Tuesday, the South Ossetian state security committee told Interfax.

On August 20, a Tskhinval district court fined the men and they were released after paying the fine, the committee said.

The eight were arrested in a state of intoxication near Adzesar in Tskhinval District on August 17. Among their personal belongings was a plant-based narcotic drug.

Georgia has confirmed their release. "All of the eight detainees are now free and in the area controlled by Georgian central authorities," Vazha Siradze, head of the patrol police department at the Georgian Interior Ministry, told journalists.