South Ossetia’s de facto president Alan Gagloev said he would not allow anyone to destabilize the situation in the republic during what he described as a difficult period. He made the statement in response to the detention of Akhalgori based civic activist Tamar Mearakishvili, who has been accused of espionage.
Prior to her detention, Mearakishvili said she was seeking a direct meeting with Gagloev regarding issues related to her documents and warned that she would otherwise hold a one person protest in Tskhinvali.
Gagloev said he would not allow anyone to disrupt a children’s holiday on the central square, where the main New Year tree has been installed, adding that provocateurs would be held accountable in accordance with the law.
“If someone wants to spoil the New Year for children, let her go and protest in central Tbilisi,” Gagloev said.
By making this statement, Gagloev effectively acknowledged that Mearakishvili was detained because of the protest she had announced. He added that during a search, investigators allegedly discovered evidence incriminating her.
“There are facts and documents confirming her connection to the charges brought against her,” he said.
Gagloev also stated that Mearakishvili had previously been prosecuted in several criminal cases but had won in court each time.
“She made harsh statements against the authorities and used offensive language, which constitutes a criminal offense. However, the goal was neither pressure nor persecution. In any other state, she would have faced criminal liability,” he said.
According to the Ossetian news agency Res, the de facto president showed journalists a certificate from Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that allegedly confirms the payment of remuneration in European currency to the citizen for activities carried out on the territory of South Ossetia.
Gagloev also claimed that while serving as director of a children’s creativity center in the Leningor district, also known as Akhalgori, Mearakishvili participated in international events representing Georgia.
“This took place, in my view, in 2010 to 2011. At the time, Georgia had a program called Engagement Through Cooperation, implemented by non governmental organizations exclusively through Georgia. She represented Georgia abroad at one of these events,” he said.
Gagloev added that since Mearakishvili is a Georgian citizen, she was offered South Ossetian citizenship in exchange for renouncing her Georgian citizenship, but she refused.
During the search of her apartment, personal belongings were seized, including the Human Rights Tulip award she received in 2018 after winning a competition organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Mearakishvili, who is accused of espionage by the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali, was placed in two months of pre trial detention by a local court. The closed hearing was held on December 24. Her parents and relatives were not allowed to attend.
According to her lawyer Alan Bazaev, Mearakishvili has begun a hunger strike in protest.
The de facto State Security Committee detained Mearakishvili overnight on November 23 and later уточ clarified the charges, stating that she is suspected of providing information to foreign media outlets affiliated with Georgian intelligence services.
According to the agency, the media outlets allegedly used her materials for propaganda purposes in the interests of Georgia and its Western partners.
“At this stage, the republic’s Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case. Necessary operational and investigative measures are being carried out to identify possible accomplices and connections on the territory of the republic,” the agency reported, citing the security service.
Earlier statements by the same body claimed that the Georgian citizen had collected and transmitted information about strategically important facilities in South Ossetia, allegedly posing a threat to the republic’s security.
Mearakishvili has been detained before. Her identity documents were confiscated, and she was banned from leaving the occupied territory.
She was first detained on August 16, 2017, by the so called South Ossetian police near her home without explanation or a warrant. She was later charged with defaming the United Ossetia party, illegally obtaining South Ossetian citizenship, and using forged documents. All charges were dropped in 2023 due to lack of evidence.
Because of ongoing persecution in Tskhinvali, Mearakishvili repeatedly sought direct meetings and assistance from Georgian authorities, but her requests were consistently rejected.
“For four years I have been persecuted for civic activism at Bibilov’s initiative. Formally, I am charged in three criminal cases. For four years I have been unable to exercise my right to freedom of movement. During this time, I have attended dozens of court hearings and interrogations at the prosecutor’s office,” Mearakishvili said in 2021.
“The Georgian authorities avoid raising my case. When they speak about it, it is purely formal, and they know well that this does not help ease my situation,” she said.
For her work defending the rights of conflict affected populations, Georgia’s Public Defender nominated Mearakishvili for the UN and Vaclav Havel human rights prizes. In 2018, she received the Human Rights Tulip award from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Georgia. That same year, the South Caucasus regional office of the Heinrich Boll Foundation named her the winner of its Interference Desired award