As part of an investigation into the 2008 Russian-Georgian war, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for three South Ossetian officials suspected of war crimes against ethnic Georgians.
This was reported on the ISS website.
These are Lieutenant General Mikhail Mindzayev (in 2005-2008 he was the head of the Interior Ministry of the self-proclaimed "South Ossetia"), Hamlet Guchmazov (in 2008 he was the head of the pre-trial detention center) and David Sanakoyev ("ombudsman" at the time of the events).
The investigation has evidence that the suspects detained ethnic Georgians in the South Ossetian part of Georgia and then detained them. There, people were brutally beaten, tortured and held in harsh conditions in the Tskhinvali remand center. The leadership of Russia and the unrecognized republic used the detainees as a bargaining chip for the exchange of prisoners.
A court press release said Mindzayev and Guchmazov tortured and took hostages between August 8 and 27, 2008, and that Sanakoyev abducted people and engaged in the illegal movement of civilians.
The Pre-Trial Chamber has instructed the Secretary of the International Criminal Court, Peter Lewis, to prepare a request for cooperation in order to detain and bring these suspects to trial.
- Official Tbilisi filed a lawsuit against Russia in 2008. In January 2016, the Pre-Trial Chamber agreed that the ISS should launch an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war.
- International Criminal Prosecutor Karim Khan invited warrants for the arrest of the three suspects from Tskhinvali in March 2022.