Eldar Gundishvili received injuries when being arrested by Russian soldiers

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

Resident of Adzvi village in Gori municipality Eldar Gundishvili was arrested by the officers of the Russian occupation forces and the injuries he received during the detention are still visible. He has bruises and traces of physical violence on the big part of his body. However, Gundishvili states that the Russian soldiers did not purposefully beat him but he received those injuries during the incident.

“I resisted them during detention; I fell down and received those injuries. At that moment, I did not feel anything and did not complain with them. The police took me to interrogation; the doctor also examined me and said the injuries were not life-threatening,” Eldar Gundishvili said.

His wife Mariam Gundishvili witnessed the detention of her husband. She said Eldar Gundishvili was kidnapped from the Georgia controlled territory.

“I saw two Russian soldiers; my husband was down on the ground and one unarmed person was standing near him. I understood that the Russians had captured him. Elder had not walked into the occupied territory; the Russians had walked into our controlled territory. When my husband returned after detention, he had problem of breathing; as he explained, he received these injuries during the detention and even on the third day after the release, the injuries were still visible,” Mariam Gundishvili doubts that the Russian soldiers physically abused her husband during detention.

“My husband cannot recall details but it is evident that he was beaten in the loin; he could not receive these injuries by falling down,” Mariam Gundishvili said.

Initially, the anti-occupation movement reported that Gundishvili was beaten by the officers of the occupation forces. After that, Eldar Gundishvili was once again questioned in the Shida Kartli regional police department, and having left the building, he said the Russian soldiers had not beaten him and he had no problems.

“There was no physical violence. I resisted them and then fell down; I hurt my loin by falling down. Now I have no pains at all,” Eldar Gundishvili told journalists after he left the building of the regional police department.

Doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili arrived in Adzvi village and examined Eldar Gundishvili. The doctor, who himself spent several months in Tskhinvali prison a few months ago, said that Gundishvili has bruises on the body but as he asked, Gaprindashvili did not speak about more details. He added that the citizens living alongside the occupation line must not be left without attention of the government and society. 

“Luckily, he does not need particular medical assistance now but he needs attention at least to pay the imposed fine – 5 000 Russian Rubles because he was arrested several times and the imposed fine amounts to 300 GEL that is huge sum for the residents of the village. I justify the policy of our state that it is inadmissible that the State paid these fines instead captured citizens because it will mean the State acknowledges the decisions of the de-facto governments. But, with the support of nongovernmental organizations or charity organizations, the local population should get some aid. The population of the villages adjacent to the occupation line need particular attention and they must feel that they are not abandoned and that the country cares about them,” Vazha Gaprindashvili said. 

The representatives of the occupation forces arrested Eldar Gundishvili on February 27 for illegal crossing of the so-called border. On February 28 he was freed after paying the fine. Gundishvili said, he left jail after his Ossetian friend paid the fine.