04 May 2005, 09:26
Twelve flee from ethnically motivated hazing
Twelve servicemen of the Akhaltsikhe battalion of Georgia's Defence Ministry deserted the unit last Monday, 2 May.
The deserters are all Armenians, according to the Georgian media, and they ran away from the unit because of persecution on an ethnic basis.
In a talk to journalists, the deserters who are resident in the Akhalkalaki district said they had been severely beaten by sergeants and their Georgian fellow servicemen in the battalion.
"We were beaten for speaking Armenian and being not able to speak Georgian," one of the deserters said. He added money had also been demanded from them.
The Georgian Defence Ministry admits twelve servicemen of the Akhaltsikhe battalion really left the unit without permission. An internal investigation is running, Interfax says.
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