For more than 7 years, civil activist Tamar Mearakishvili has been a victim of persecution and harassment by the de facto authorities of South Ossetia. In addition to the fact that over the years, a number of false criminal cases have been launched against her, a few days ago it became known about another episode of her harassment. In particular, Akhalgori deputy, de facto member of parliament Zaza Dryaev took away verbally abused Mearakishvili, took away  her mobile phone and pushed her. After Mearakishvili posted the video footage of the incident on social media, certain individuals contacted her and demanded that she delete the video from her page, otherwise the situation would worsen. Tamar refused their request. The next day, the relevant authorities came to Mearakishvili’s store, which she opened in the city of Tskhinvali last month. Mearakishvili was told that she did not have the appropriate registration and was asked to close the facility. It is worth noting that Mearakishvili previously had a store in Akhalgori, but she had to close it there too, after the owner of the premises was intimidated into refusing to rent the property to Mearakishvili. It is also alarming that Mearakishvili cannot use the identity documents that have been confiscated from her due to the consideration of two false criminal cases - the illegal acquisition of the so-called citizenship of South Ossetia, simultaneous possession of Georgian citizenship and use of a forged passport. Accordingly, the charge against her that she failed to register the store is absurd, since due to the seizure of her identity documents, Mearakhishvili has been restricted from going through any legal procedures for 8 years.

As people close to the de facto government say in private conversations, the government and the ruling party Nykhaz are dissatisfied with Dryaev's behavior, however, since she is a member of their party, they do not want to talk about her actions publicly and do not want this to lead to legal consequences, as this will affect the party's image.

According to Mearakhishvili, she decided to return to Akhalgori because she no longer feels safe in Tskhinvali, although her safety is not guaranteed in Akhalgori either. It is noteworthy that representatives of the Georgian authorities have not had any communication with Merakishvili after the incident.

In light of the inaction of the de facto authorities of South Ossetia and Tbilisi, in order to stop the persecution of Tamar Mearakishvili, it is necessary to discuss her issue in the format of the Geneva International Negotiations. The Democracy Research Center appeals to the Co-Chairs of the Geneva International Negotiations to put the issue of stopping the continued persecution of Tamar Mearakishvili on the agenda of the upcoming meeting and to take all possible measures to ensure her safety and the immediate return of her identity documents.