The detained citizens of Georgia Georgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze were not deported from Belarus and are still kept in the detention center

27.08.2005.

As became known to the Human Rights Center Viasna, the citizens of Georgia Georgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze are still in the detention center of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of Minsk City Executive Committee. The deportation procedure did not occur, they were not sent today home by the Minsk-Tbilisi flight.
The reasons why they are still kept in custody are not known.
According to the official information, the decision to deport the citizens of Georgia was taken by KGB because of "their interference into the internal affairs of the Republic of Belarus”. According to the KGB version, “interference” was that Georgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze had several meetings with representatives of unregistered youth organizations (Zubr, Young Front, Limon) and allegedly took part in the distribution of unregistered printed materials. The detention of Georgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze was sanctioned by the procurator of Maskouski Borough of Minsk.
The Human Rights Center Viasna emphasize the gross violations of the Belarusian and international law in the sphere of human rights, which accompany the detention of the Georgian citizens in the special detention center. For example, yesterday the detained activists were denied a meeting with the lawyer and the Georgian embassy representative, and a food parcel. Georgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze were deprived of legal assistance and possibility to appeal in court against the deportation decision made by KGB. The fact that the citizens of Georgia were not deported and are still behind the bars means that the Lukashenka administration is staging yet another scare action before the presidential elections of 2006.

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