TBILISI. Aug 9 (Interfax-AVN) - The Georgian State Security Ministry has identified seven armed Chechens detained during an attempt to cross the Russian-Georgian border illegally on August 3, a spokesman for the ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Six detainees are being treated for gunshot wounds in the Tbilisi republic hospital while the seventh one is kept in the ministry's detention ward.
Another group of Chechen guerrillas comprising seven people illegally crossed the state border as well on Sunday. They are being identified.
The 14 rebels are sentenced to three months of preliminary imprisonment. The sentence was brought by the Vake-Saburtali district court of Tbilisi at the initiative of the ministry. Under Georgian legislation, the detainees can be sentenced to 10 years in prison if they are found guilty of violating the border with arms. They can be handed over to Russia if an appropriate decision is made.
Tbilisi will not "create formal or artificial obstacles to delay the transfer of ethnic Chechens detained on the border to Russia," Director of the Georgian Foreign Ministry's PR and Information Department Kakha Sikharulidze told the press on Thursday. "The president of Georgia has made a clear statement to the effect," he added.