A European Union Monitoring Mission release on Sunday confirmed "extensive use" of the Mission's hotline regarding the detention and alleged shooting of a Georgian citizen by de-facto authorities of the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on Saturday.
The statement of the mission said the Mission had been involved in an exchange of information on the incident and was following up on subsequent developments, after a 33-year-old man was reportedly shot and then taken into custody by occupation forces.
The Mission has been facilitating the exchange of respective information [on the incident] throughout the day. The EUMM will follow up closely the alleged shooting incident and subsequent detention," the statement read.
Expanding on the incident, the press release noted Head of the Mission Marek Szczygieł recalling the "importance of a swift resumption of the Ergneti Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) as the appropriate forum for regular dialogue and confidence building".
Local media reported on shooting and arrest of Zaza Gakheladze, resident of central Georgia's Kaspi Municipality village of Kvemo Tchala, by de-facto authorities near the Administrative Boundary Line in the morning on Saturday.
The de-facto Security Committee of South Ossetia notified Gakheladze's family about the incident, alleging Gakheladze had crossed the "state border" and opened fire on "border protection staff" after an appearance of the latter on the scene. The "committee" said the Georgian citizen had been injured in return fire from the "border" patrols.