TBILISI, June 19 (AVN) - Each of 13 violators of the Russian-Georgian border detained by Georgian border guards of the Mesti border guard commandant's office in the Upper Svanetiya mountains in June 7 is charged with illegal border crossing, a spokesman for the investigation service of the Georgian State Security Ministry told the Military News Agency on Tuesday.
The punishment for the illegal border crossing will be five years of imprisonment. According to the spokesman, the nationality of all the accused has been settled. They are five Chechen citizens, five residents of Kabardino-Balkaria, a Karachayevo resident, an Abazinian resident and a Balkarian resident. At present the investigation inquires whether any of the detained is wanted by the Russian law-enforcement agencies for breaking the law on the Russian territory.
The spokesman stresses, that in any case the violators will be prosecuted in accordance with the Georgian legislation. Earlier the Georgia was ready to give away the violators to Russia, in case it turned out that they participated in terrorist acts in the North Caucasus or were rebels combating in Chechnya.
According to the spokesman, it is not known yet, whether these violators are in the wanted list of participants of the war against the Russian Army in the North Caucasus, which Russia sent to the Georgian authorities.