Gocha Dzasokhov: we must show free will for the sake of children

The story with the Georgian teenagers arrested by the law-enforcement authorities of South Ossetia is growing in details. As the GeorgiaTimes correspondent was told by the disgraced Georgian businessman with the Ossetian origin Gocha Dzasokhov, who is now heading the World Assembly of Peoples of Georgia, he started negotiating the matter with the South-Ossetian authorities.

- I assumed the responsibility of heading the Assembly of Peoples of Georgia. Thus, so long as the boys have got into such a mess, we are making every possible effort to bring them home as soon as possible. The hearts of those who were born and grew up in Georgia are bleeding for it regardless of nationality and of the place we might find ourselves in.

- Will not the negotiators or the authorities of South Ossetia be scared away by the statements made by official Tbilisi, which is, as always, lavish of the diplomatically unacceptable statements? For instance, Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili has stated after his meeting with EU Special Representative Piter Semnebi that Russia is allegedly "trying to find mechanisms for the teenagers' liberation that would let it save its face".

-I am not going to comment upon the politicians' statements: their words will lie at their door. I know for sure that one cannot let the confrontation grow, one cannot let emotions and ambitions prevail. I am sure that should all the parties show their good will, the boys will soon embrace their mothers.

Gocha Dzasokhov promised to provide comments upon negotiations and their outcome in the nearest days. Why did he make up his mind to settle such a challenging task as the liberation of the four Georgian teenagers accused by the law-enforcement authorities of South Ossetia of illegal border crossing and keeping of weapon?

Well, the answer is obvious enough. One has just got to remember the latest facts of his biography. Right after the August events, Gocha Dzasokhov found himself to be disgraced: his property was confiscated and was several times unsuccessfully put up for sale. He settled in Moscow. It is from here that he decided to rebuild the burnt bridges between the conflicting parties, for he cannot divide the people that found themselves on different sides of the border into "friends" and "foes". He outlined his position during the first meeting of Assembly of Peoples of Georgia in Sochi, when the Ossetians, Abkhazians, Georgians and Russians sat down at one table.

"What we should start with is forgiveness. We must beg each other's pardon, we must apologize to the people whom we have hurt and made leave their homes, their shelter. We must forgive each other, for it will bring relief. We will not be able to live without each other, despite any offenses. We must find strength and turn to each other and tell each other in the face that we are going to pass the baton we have received from our fathers to our children and grandchildren", - Dzasokhov said then.

Now he is trying to find words so as not to offend either of the parties. "The boys just turned up in the wrong place at the wrong moment. It is the responsibility of the parties to display wisdom", - Gocha Dzasokhov said, being the father of three children.

The story with the four teenagers from the near-border village of Tirdznisi has grown into an international scandal due to the politicians' efforts. The fourteen-year-old Georgiy Romelashvili and Aleko Sabadze, the sixteen-year-old Victor Bukuchuri and the seventeen-year-old Levan Khmiadashvili were detained by the law-enforcement authorities of South Ossetia on November 4. They were accused of illegal border crossing and keeping of weapons. The boys showed the cache.

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