TBILISI. Dec 10 (Interfax-AVN) - The Spanish government has sent a special plane to Tbilisi to bring back the two Spanish citizens released from captivity in Georgia.
Atnonio Tremino and Francisco Rodrigues were held hostages for over a year in the Pankisi gorge. They were released on December 8 as a result of joint actions of the Interior and State Security Ministries.
The plane landed in Tbilisi at 7:50 a.m. local time (0350 GMT) on Monday, the administration of the Tbilisi airport told Interfax-Military News Agency. It is to leave for Spain at 2:00 p.m. local time (1000 GMT).
The Spanish businessmen told reporters after the release that their captors had treated them "worse than animals" at times. The hostages were beaten up, poorly fed and watered and kept in dirty basements, the businessmen told reporters in a Tbilisi hotel on Sunday. The captors demanded a ransom, but the hostages said they were not aware whether the money had eventually been paid. They stressed that they would never come to Georgia again.
Tremino and Rodridgues said they had no idea of the nationality of their captors. One of the businessmen speaks a little Russian, and the captors communicated with him in that language.
Tbilisi prosecutors interrogated the former hostages on Sunday. If the captors are found, they will be tried on charges of terrorism that envisage the punishment of up to 15 years in prison.