Kvemo Chala, Georgia, July 15, 2021
Gakheladze joyfully reunites with his family after a year in prison. Photo: sputnik-georgia.ru
After being held in a South Ossetian prison for more than a year, Zaza Gakheladze of Georgia has been released, thanks to the intervention of the heads of the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
Gakheladze was shot and arrested on July 11, 2020, at the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line. South Ossetia considers itself independent, while Georgia considers it a Russian-occupied region of Georgia.
Gakheladze was found guilty of illegally crossing the border and the attempted murder of a border guard, and on January 5, South Ossetian authorities extended Gakheladze’s detention for another 12.5 years. His arrest and conviction sent shockwaves through Georgian society, and the issue of his release was discussed in all negotiations between Tbilisi, Moscow, and Tskhinvali (the capital of South Ossetia).
His family turned to the Georgian Patriarchate for help, and His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II in turn turned to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for help, as OrthoChristian reported last month.
Tskhinvali authorities then announced that they decided to consider the issue of Gakheladze’s release in response to Pat. Kirill’s appeal.
In the end, Gakheladze’s release was exchanged for the release of South Ossetian citizen V. Gobozov, who the South Ossetian press service reports was taken by Georgian special services from the neutral territory of the Russian-Georgian border.
Taking the Russian Patriarch’s appeal into account, South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov signed a decree pardoning Gakhleadze, who also wrote a personal letter of appeal and apology.
“I would like to thank all the parties involved in the process: the Georgian authorities, international organizations, the Church, and directly Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia. I also want to thank the Russian side … and the Ossetian side, which released Zaza Gakheladze,” His Eminence Metropolitan Andria of Gori and Ateni told reporters after going to meet Gakheladze, reports Sputnik-Georgia.
The former prisoner has already joyfully reunited with his family in his home village of Kvemo Chala.
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