Georgia arrest 20 people suspected of spying for Russia

[News_Editor]

Georgia arrest 20 people suspected of spying for Russia

2010-11-02 02:25:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

TBILISI, GEORGIA (BNO NEWS) -- Georgia on Monday arrested 20 individuals that are suspected of conspiring to pass secret information to Russia.

According to Russian media reports, 20 individuals, all of them Georgians, were arrested by local police forces after they organized and formed a spy network to favor Russia.

However, Georgian officials declined to either confirm or decline the information. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that they had no information on the matter and added that he issue was under the competence of the Interior Ministry.

"We refrain from comments right now. An official announcement will be made at a press conference on November 5," said Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry.

Since the Georgia-Russia war in 2008, which lasted five days, the two nations have been in the midst of a spy flaps. Last January, a former Georgian diplomat who advised the country's mission to NATO was sentenced to 20 years in prison after spying for Russian during the 2008 war.

Two months later in March, a Rostov-on-Don military court convicted a Georgian and two former Russian military officers of spying for Georgia. In 2006, Georgia detained four Russian military officials and twelve others on spying charges. they were subsequently handed over to Russia.

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