We call on Georgian authorities to take effective measures to identify violators - Georgian Young Lawyers Association on the Law on Occupation

GYLA responds to the facts of possible violation of the occupied territories' legal regime and calls on the Georgian authorities to take effective measures stipulated by the Law on Occupation to identify the violators and to use the mechanisms stipulated by the Criminal Code against the said persons.

We would like to respond to the information circulated in the media, according to which persons who may have violated the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories have crossed the state border of Georgia.

We would like to remind the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia that a special legal regime is in force on the territories of Georgia occupied as a result of Russia's military aggression, which determines the rules of entry to the occupied territory for citizens of foreign countries or stateless persons and imposes restrictions on free movement on the occupied territories, economic activities in accordance with the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories, real estate in connection with the conclusion of property-related transactions and other issues,

In violation of the established rules, entry into the occupied territories from all directions other than those prescribed by law for citizens of foreign countries and stateless persons is prohibited and is a crime under article 322-1 of the Georgian Criminal Code, for which the penalty is a fine or imprisonment of two to four years.

Moreover, Georgia's Law on Occupied Territories imposes significant restrictions on economic activities in the occupied territories. Sanctions established by Georgian legislation on prohibited economic activities shall apply to all persons directly or indirectly participating in the capital of persons carrying out activities prohibited by paragraph 1 of article 6 of the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories and/or Occupied Territories. Carrying out activities prohibited by the said law is a crime and therefore is punishable by the Criminal Code of Georgia.

In case of violation of the requirements of Georgian legislation on the occupied territories, the Georgian authorities are obliged to apply all mechanisms envisaged by Georgian legislation and international law in order to protect the legitimate interests and security of Georgia.

We urge the Georgian authorities not to legitimize the border checkpoints set up by the unrecognized regimes on the occupied territories by omitting possible violations of the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories, to take effective measures to reveal those individuals violating the requirements set forth by law and to apply the mechanisms envisaged by the Criminal Code against these individuals. This is said in Say's statement.