Statement
00:00, June 29, 2007 | Freedom of Movement
Information for all the citizens who want to return to Armenia through the territory of Georgia
In June 2007, Vanadzor citizen Robert Elizbaryan applied to HCA Vanadzor on a problem of his brother, Hovik Elizbaryan, who was coming back from Moscow to Armenia by overland transport. Hovik Elizbaryan had been arrested by the law enforcement bodies of Georgia and was blamed for trespassing the Russian-Georgian border.
The Georgian lawyer demanded some money from Hovik Elizbaryan to defend his rights and set him free by paying penalty. Hovik Elizbaryan, who was coming back by overland transport because he did not have money for air ticket, was unable to pay the lawyer. On June 20, the court of Georgia sentenced Hovik Elizbaryan to a-five-year imprisonment and now he is under arrest.
According to the Georgian legislation, criminal responsibility is defined for passing Georgian-Abkhazian and South Ossetian customs-houses by overland transport. This responsibility also refers to those persons whose passports have stamps of the mentioned customs-houses, even if it was done long before.
Therefore, we advise to avoid from using the overland way of passing Georgian-Abkhazian and South Ossetian customs-houses in order not to have further problems.