‘Doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili had lots of Ossetian patients and friends as well,’- Shota Bidzinashvili, the resident of the village of Bershueti said today. He was with Vazha Gaprindashvili in the detention center.

‘On the third day after our arrest, Vazha Gaprindashvili was brought in prison by Russian occupation forces.  He said he was sorry for the fate of villagers. Vazha said that parliamentarians were not arrested here, only villagers ended up in jail. He said perhaps he could manage to bring ‘Georgia Red Cross Society’ here.

I’m proud of this man. He said he was arrested in the village of Monastery. We don’t know where he was going. As if there was a church  and he was going there. He had many Ossetian patients.

Since his arrest, he was constantly under interrogation. Russian occupation forces asked him to admit that he illegally crossed the border. The doctor did not admit and said that this territory was his homeland and he did not recognize their borders. For this answer, he was sentenced to two-month pretrial detention by de facto Tskhinvali authorities.

The day before the trial, the Ossetian investigator asked him the same question again but Vazha said he was not going to change his mind and was not afraid of anything.

Since November 12 we have not seen him. He seemed undaunted, he did not give up and even encouraged us,’- Shota Bidzinaishvili said.

Tbilisi-based doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by Russian occupation forces near the occupation line with Akhalgori Municipality, has been sent to two-month pretrial detention, – State Security Service confirmed the information.

The decision was made by the Occupation Regime on November 15. Vazha Gaprindashvili was reportedly charged with “illegally crossing the border” under article 322 of the criminal code of Russia.

Tbilisi activated the hotline mechanism of EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM).