TBILISI Nov 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The cases of two of the eight ethnic Chechens being held in custody in Tbilisi will be sent to a Tbilisi district court, a State Security Ministry source told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday Kushtanashvili and Robinzon Margoshvili. Both are citizens of Georgia.
The two men are charged with smuggling ammunition across the border, illegal possession and acquisition of weapons and ammunition and illegally crossing Georgia's state border.
These crimes carry three to ten years in prison.
Thirteen armed Chechens were detained by Georgian border guards on the Chechen section of the Russian-Georgian border on August 3 and 4. Five of them were handed over to Russia on October 4.
Investigators have obtained proof that the detainee who introduced himself as Ruslan Tepsayev is, in fact, Robinzon Margoshvili, and the one who claimed to be Fizuli Beisarov is, in fact, Georgy Kushtanashvili. Both of them are Georgian citizens and that is why they will not extradited to Russia, the source said.
In line with recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights, extradition of the detainees was suspended until their cases are studied in full.
The European Court is to consider the issue on Tuesday.
The Georgian Prosecutor General's Office is expecting Russia to provide additional documents for the detainees' identification, the source said.