VARIOUS: Georgian man detained by Russian police died during deportation. EU argues over criticising Russia on Georgia

A Georgian man detained by Russian police died as authorities were transporting him and 40 other alleged Georgian immigration violators on a police bus from St. Petersburg to Moscow on Tuesday (October 17, 2006). The first fatality in Russia's harsh deportations was 58-year old Tengiz Tongonidze, who was said to suffer from asthma. He died of apparent respiratory complications. He complained to police and asked to stop the bus for some fresh air, but they refused. As the bus was pulling up to the airport, he was pronounced dead. "They [police] murdered one man who was sick,'' said one Georgian deportee, who wished to remain anonymous. "He wanted fresh air, but they didn't let him out. They should have just stopped the bus and let him get some fresh air for even five minutes.'' "We were on the bus from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and they refused to let any of us off the bus,'' said another man, who wouldn't give his name. Since October 5, Russia's campaign to rid the country of illegal aliens from the Republic of Georgia has led to the deportation of 1,245 Georgians, said Russia's Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev. The deportations are Moscow's reply to Georgia's arrest of four Russians at the end of September on spying charges. The scandal has sent relations between the two neighbours to their lowest level in more than a decade. The Kremlin deportations have been sparked by Tbilisi's arrest of the officers. President Vladimir Putin ordered his ministers to protect Russia's "native population" by cracking down on illegal immigrants, and especially on employees of outdoor market places where many traders are dark-skinned peoples from the former Soviet republics of the Caucasus region and Central Asia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russia was stirring xenophobia and Georgians deported to Tbilisi in cargo planes said their documents were in order. A Russian Emergency Ministry plane with a cargo of ethnic Georgians deported from Russia for alleged immigration violations touched down in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, on Tuesday night. Since October 5, Russia's campaign to rid the country of illegal aliens from the Republic of Georgia has led to the deportation of 1,245 Georgians, said Russia's Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev. "When we asked why [the Russian officials] why there were deporting us, the answer was: 'Because you are cattle,'' said Murman Tordia. "Then I was driven into a cell, and they ripped up my driving license and my visa.'' The deportations are Moscow's reply to Georgia's arrest of four Russians at the end of September on spying charges. The scandal has sent relations between the two neighbours to their lowest level in more than a decade. "I was brought to the court, but didn't see a judge,'' said Ramaz Chikhladze. "They filled out [all the documents] themselves. They handcuffed us, and put us into a special cells. I was released only today." The European Union argued on Tuesday over how strongly to criticise Russia's treatment of neighbouring Georgia, three days before a sensitive summit with President Vladimir Putin in Finland. The E.U.'s Finnish presidency prepared a draft statement for the bloc's foreign ministers firmly condemning Moscow's blockade of the former Soviet republic, but diplomats said west European countries wanted the declaration "rebalanced". However, strong resistance from west European states who see Russia as a key strategic partner and energy supplier seemed set to water down the Finnish draft. "We are gravely concerned about the continuing tensions between Georgia and Russia and the measures taken against Georgians for example working in Russia, or especially the school children also in russian schools, as well as the pressure against Georgian-owned businesses and also the economic sanctions: severed transport links, bans on imports, closure of the borders, they are indeed extremely worrying," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's External Affairs Commissioner in Luxembourg. Diplomats said Baltic, Scandinavian and central European EU members were pushing for a tough line. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett highlighted European ambivalence about Russia when asked about energy relations with Russia and how hard the bloc would be on Georgia. "We have always talked to Russia very frankly about any concerns that we have about issues like human rights, media freedom and so on. But of course energy security goes hand in hand as far as we are concerned with climate security, and those things are very important to everybody, the Russians included" (Q: how hard will you be on Georgia?) we are urging everyone to try again, as with North Korea, to reduce tension and to look toward better relationships," she said. Diplomats said France led the countries seeking to tone down EU criticism of Moscow. Paris sought to refer to a United Nations resolution on the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, which criticised the Tbilisi government.

ITN Source | October 18, 2006

Tags:. .sanctions. .condemning. .stirring. .soviet. .deporting