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Another Victory of Georgia Over the August 2008 War
After the Strasbourg court case, Georgia won another victory at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague in connection with the August 2008 war. This decision proves once again that the serious violations committed against the population of Georgia during the August war will be attributed to specific representatives of the Russian Federation and the separatist regimes.
In particular, according to the information published by the Hague Tribunal, during the episode of torture and ill-treatment of Georgian civilians during the August war, the court prosecutor issued arrest warrants against 3 defendants: Mikhail Mindzaev (the so-called Minister of Internal Affairs of the Tskhinvali region); Hamlet Guchmazov (head of the pre-trial detention isolator of the so-called Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Tskhinvali region during the mentioned period); David Sanakoev (so-called Public Defender in the mentioned period). The investigation also reveals the role of the late Vyacheslav Borisov (Major General and Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Russian Federation at the time), who, according to the investigation, intentionally facilitated the commission of the above-mentioned crimes.
The appeal of the Prosecutor's Office regarding the issuance of arrest warrants is specifically related to the facts of illegal detention, inhuman treatment, hostage-taking and further illegal movement of Georgian civilians during the Russian occupation. It should be noted that, like the Strasbourg court, the prosecutor of the Hague tribunal directly states that the territories of Georgia are occupied by Russia.
Since 2016, the Government of Georgia, in coordination with the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, with the involvement of the Prosecutor General's Office and all relevant agencies, has been actively cooperating with the Office of the Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal and providing comprehensive information and evidences necessary for proper investigation. The prosecutor's office was provided with, among other things, hundreds of pieces of evidence collected and submitted to the Strasbourg court in connection with the August war case.
The current decision of the Office of the Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal is the result of the submission of the above evidence by the Government of Georgia and a logical continuation of the historic victory of Strasbourg.
The Government of Georgia will continue to work actively with the Hague Tribunal to bring to justice all other crimes committed against the people of Georgia.
With regard to the execution of arrest warrants, all member states of the Rome Statute (the founding document of the International Criminal Court) have an obligation to co-operate with the Hague Tribunal on the arrest and extradition of a person to a court. To this end, Georgia will cooperate fully with the court to bring the perpetrators to justice. Together with the historic decision of the Strasbourg Court in the August war case of January 21, 2021, this decision of the Hague Tribunal represents another significant victory of the Georgian side in the international courts against the Russian Federation and confirms that during the 2008 war the Georgian military acted in accordance with international law.