TBILISI — Georgia on Sunday demanded the release of a doctor detained by separatists after crossing into breakaway South Ossetia, which is controlled by Russia after a war between two ex-Soviet republics in 2008. Vazha Gaprindashvili, president of Georgia's Association of Orthopaedist and Traumatologists, was taken to South Ossetia's regional center Tskhinvali on Wednesday and given two months of pretrial custody by the separatists, Georgia's State security service has said. Georgia's foreign ministry said Gaprindashvili's detention "highlights the alarming situation of human rights violations in the occupied territories". Local villagers are often detained on similar grounds but the doctor was a much more high-profile figure. "We have mobilized the international community and spare no efforts to ensure that our citizen, Vazha Gaprindashvili, returns to his family in a timely and safe manner," the ministry said in a statement.

Source: International New York Times November 17, 2019 13:41 UTC