Georgia, Tbilisi / corr Trend N.Kirtzkhalia / David Bakreadze, the Georgian Minister on the Conflicts Settlement, demands to punish the peacekeepers and their commanders, who hit the Georgian journalists.
Malkhaz Basilaya was beaten in the morning of 14 December, when he tried to report from the Inguri bridge, in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone. The television company's report highlighted that the Abkhazian side prevents the residents of Galsak district, to participate in the 5 January presidential elections in 2008. The peacekeepers broke the camera and hit the journalist.
"The Russian peacekeepers demonstrated rude behavior, despite of preserving the law in the region and defend the local people," Barkadze said. He also said that the head of the block-post and the peacekeepers who participated in these illegal actions should be punished.
"This arbitrariness by the Russian army shows that this is not the contingent way to settle the conflict. We do not want any provocations obviously, but we can not ignore such facts," the Minister said. A little while ago, the Georgians detained two peacekeepers - the Russian citizens, who kidnapped the Georgian journalists. "An investigation has been launched against this crime and we demand to punish the peacekeepers," Bakradze said.