Zurab Lobzhanidze is in the territory controlled by the central government / photo by SSS

Zurab Lobzhanidze, who was illegally detained near the village of Balta by Russian occupation forces, has been released. This information was disseminated by the State Security Service of Georgia and the Tskhinvali De Facto State Security Committee. Zurab Lobzhanidze was arrested on July 1.

"In the process of releasing Zurab Lobzhanidze from illegal imprisonment, both the 'hotline' mechanism operated by the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia and all the relevant tools at the disposal of the central government were actively used," said the statement issued by the State Security Service of Georgia (SSS).

The State Security Committee of the de facto Republic of South Ossetia stated that 31-year-old Zurab Lobzhanidze, a resident of Tbilisi, deliberately violated the so-called border near the Akhalgori district, Balata settlement, and he was expelled from the 'republic' today, Wednesday.

Eight citizens of Georgia remain in illegal detention in the occupied Tskhinvali region. One of them was arrested on June 8 near the city of Tskhinvali.

Before that, on June 5, it became known that the so-called court found 35-year-old Giorgi Mosiashvili guilty of illegally crossing the 'border' and sentenced him to two years in prison. Giorgi Mosiashvili is a resident of Perevi village in Sachkheri. On October 31, 2023, he was kidnapped from the area surrounding the occupied Sinaguri village.

The central government states that together with international partners, they are "actively working" to free the citizens of Georgia.

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