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Congo-Captured Georgian Pilot Soso Osorauli Is Alive

January 24, 2018
 
Reginfo.ge

Georgian pilot, 42-years old Soso Osorauli, who was captured by illegal armed formation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is alive. According to the verified information, from Central Africa, Soso Osorauli several times talked his family members on the phone in Tbilisi after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia declared him dead.

The relatives of Soso Ososrauli told Reginfo that they had last communication with the captured pilot several weeks ago, after what his brother Giorgi Osorauli travelled to Congo. After the Government of Georgia received information about this fact, they invited Giorgi Osorauli to the prosecutor’s office but the brother was already in Germany.

Representative of the MFA of Georgia Mari Narchemashvili clarified that the information about Soso Osorauli being alive was disseminated yesterday and the Ministry is trying to communicate the family.

Soso Osorauli has been hostage of the illegal armed formation in Congo for one year already. On January 27, 2017 the Congolese rebels crashed two helicopters Ми¸-24 of the Air Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Northern Kivu province, eastern part of the country. Soso Osorauli was pilot of one of the helicopters. Georgian pilots went to Congo after the Defense Ministry of Georgia fired them. They were teaching the Congolese pilots how to use helicopters during military operations. 

On May 24, 2017, when locals were protesting in Kvemo Alvani village in Akhmeta municipality and blamed the Georgian authority in inefficient activities to free Soso Osorauli, the Georgia MFA held special briefing and the Deputy Minister Zviad Gonadze said there was armed conflict between the opposite parties in Congo, which ended with causality and unfortunately, Ioseb Osorauli was more likely among the killed people. 

On June 5, 2017 Soso Osorauli’s video-address was disseminated, where he appealed his family members. Ambassador of Georgia in the Republic of South Africa Beka Dvali said the video-address had been recorded several months before and they had lost contact with the hostage since May 13, 2017.

In June, in his exclusive interview to the TV-Company Imedi, the political leader of the Congolese revolutionary organization March 23 Bertran Bisimva confirmed that Soso Osorauli was killed either on May 13 or May 14 during the special operation of the Government of Congo.

In June 2017 the deputy foreign minister of Georgia Zviad Gonadze once again declared that on June 7 they received information from the UN mission that either on May 13 or May 14 there was a clash in Congo and Soso Osorauli was killed.

The family members and relatives of Soso Ososrauli held several protest demonstrations in front of the Georgian MFA with request of the Georgian pilot’s freedom. His brother Giorgi Osorauli said he was informed by the Congolese generals that Soso Osorauli is alive. 

In October 2017, before the municipal elections, the family members of Osorauli announced they were planning large-scaled protest demonstrations but then cancelled. Several weeks later, Giorgi Osorauli clarified that the Defense Minister Levan Izoria gave them two promises in exchange of cancelled protests: to raise the issue of the captured pilot at the session of the security council and to assist him to travel to Congo. Giorgi Osorauli said the Minister worried that the opposition political parties would use their protest demonstration against the authority before the municipal elections. Osorauli cancelled the protest demonstrations but the Minister deceived him. The brother was even fired from his job in the military unit.

The colonel Soso Osorauli is military pilot who, on August 11 at 2-3 pm during the Georgia-Russian armed conflict in 2008, made last flight to Tskhinvali and rescued two battalions of the Second Infantry Brigade from the siege. 

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