Italy concerned with death of Georgian citizen in occupied Tskhinvali

Ambassador of Italy to Georgia Antonio Enrico Bartoli has condemned the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili in Georgia's Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).

Expressing concern over the tragic case, Ambassador Bartoli expressed hope that the existing peaceful negotiations will resolve the case.

As the OSCE chair country, we support the Geneva [discussions] process and do not want this incident to have a negative impact [on international negotiations]", Bartoli said.

The Geneva International Discussions is the only international format of meetings addressing Georgia-Russia relations with security issues and the humanitarian situation in the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), on the top of the agenda.

The talks traditionally include negotiators from Georgia and Russia as well as representatives from occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, and is co-chaired by the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and European Union officials.

• Archil Tatunashvili, Levan Kutashvili and Ioseb Pavliashvili were illegally detained by occupying forces in the Akhalgori region of Georgia last week.

• Tatunashvili died in unclear circumstances, while the other two were detained in the country’s occupied Tskhinvali region.