A civil activist critical of local authorities has been detained in South Ossetia

The Prosecutor General's Office of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia announced the arrest of a Georgian citizen on charges of espionage. According to media reports, she is civil activist Tamara Mearakishvili.

Investigators allege that the Georgian citizen, while in South Ossetia, was engaged in "collecting and transmitting data on strategically important facilities in the republic, which posed a threat to the country's security."

The day before, Mearakishvili told her acquaintances about unknown persons breaking into her apartment in Tskhinvali through the balcony. Contact with her was subsequently lost. The building where the activist was renting accommodation was reportedly cordoned off by security forces.

Tamara Mearakishvili has been unable to obtain a new passport for over a year. She claims that the lack of a document prevents her from moving freely, even within the republic, and from finding employment.

South Ossetian authorities previously prohibited ethnic Georgian Mearakishvili from holding a protest against corruption in the region. In 2022, the republic's Prosecutor General's Office announced the closure of the criminal case against her due to a lack of evidence of a crime. She was accused of slandering a member of the republic's ruling party, United Ossetia. The activist was also facing criminal charges for illegally acquiring a South Ossetian passport, and her home was searched. Human rights activists claim she was persecuted for criticizing the authorities and exposing instances of corruption.

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