RFE/RL: Georgia Gives Long Jail Term To Turkish Captain
posted by circassiankama on September, 2009 as Abkhazia
September 01, 2009
Georgia Gives Long Jail Term To Turkish Captain
KUTAISI, Georgia -- A court in the Georgian town of Kutaisi has
sentenced the captain of a Turkish tanker to 24 years in jail for the
"illegal crossing of the Georgian border and smuggling," RFE/RL's
Georgian Service reported.
Mehmet
Coskun Ozturk was captaining the "Buket" on its way last month from
Turkey to the breakaway region of Abkhazia with gasoline aboard when it
was impounded by Georgian authorities to the Black Sea port of Poti.
Judge
Vakhtang Todia told RFE/RL that Ozturk was convicted of multiple
illegal crossings into Georgian territorial waters and smuggling to
Abkhazia.
Ozturk's vessel, reportedly laden with 2,000 tons of
gasoline and 700 tons of diesel fuel, was bound for the Abkhaz capital,
Sukhumi.
Georgia has imposed an economic blockade on Abkhazia.
Abkhazia
and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, announced their
independence from the Georgian state following an intense but brief
conflict in August 2008 that saw Russian troops pour over the border
into Abkhazia and outside disputed territory into central Georgia.
Tbilisi
and Moscow have traded accusations of blame, but Georgia still
officially regards Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Georgian territory.
Russia and Nicaragua are the only countries to have recognized those regions' independence.
Abkhazia calls the blockade an attempt by Georgia to suffocate the subtropical territory and threatens to respond in kind.
The
tanker was operating under a Panamanian flag with a Turkish and
Azerbaijani crew, all of whom aside from Ozturk have been released.
Reuters
reports that the Turkish operator said the ship was in international
waters and was detained at gunpoint, while Georgia said it was in
Georgian territorial waters.
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