RUSSIA:Russia faces legal action from neighbouring Georgia over the mass deportation of its citizens last year, writes Conor Sweeneyin Moscow.
Georgia claims that, at the height of tensions between the two countries late last year, at least 5,000 Georgians were deprived of their human rights in Russia and persecuted because of their ethnic origin in the way that they were forcibly deported.
Last night, the small Caucasian country lodged a formal lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The legal battle has become the latest phase in tensions between the two former Soviet states. In September, Russia cut off all transport and postal links to Georgia and cracked down on what it claimed were illegal businesses operating in big cities like Moscow and St Petersburg. Economic trade was also cut, with Georgian wine and water banned.
Russia reacted harshly after four military officers were arrested, paraded on Georgian television and accused of stirring unrest against the government.
Since the "Rose" revolution three years ago, when President Mikhail Saakashvili took power in Tbilisi, the once close relationship has deteriorated dramatically. Georgia has sought to join both Nato and the EU, and has shunned its former paternal ally.
Although diplomatic tensions have since thawed slightly, a Georgian parliamentary inquiry into thousands of citizens who were deported late last year has concluded that Russia's constitution had been violated by the sudden swoop on Georgians. At least four people died in the deportation process. Among the dead was a man denied access to asthma medicine and a woman who had a heart attack.
Georgia intends to produce witnesses who will testify about inhumane treatment in Russian detention centres and who can produce evidence that they were legally in Russia at the time.
The legal action was dismissed by the Russian foreign ministry. It said the case would not help normalise relations, which was Russia's goal. Russia has also denied it singled out Georgians for persecution, insisting it was part of a widespread crackdown.