A court hearing was held in the capital of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia in the case of Georgian citizen Tamara Mearakishvili. She is accused of "espionage for Georgia."
The activist, who demanded a meeting with the republic's head, Alan Gagloev, and threatened to go on a hunger strike in central Tskhinvali, was remanded in pretrial detention for two months. Lawyer Alan Bazzaev, representing Mearakishvili, intends to appeal the court's decision.
The hearing was held behind closed doors; media representatives and the accused's family were not allowed into the Tskhinvali courtroom. Even her mother, who suffers from diabetes, was not allowed to see Tamara.
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." Specifically, the republic's special services noticed such a "strategic facility" in a photograph Tamara posted on social media, Sapa reports.
The defendant denies her guilt and continues her hunger strike, drinking only water when taking her medication.
According to Tamara Mearakishvili, she has been unable to obtain a new passport for over a year, which prevents her from traveling freely, even within the republic, or finding employment.
South Ossetian authorities previously prohibited Mearakishvili, an ethnic Georgian, 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 also faced 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 corruption.
