The most important thing is that the Georgian state should do everything to prevent similar cases from happening again. In this, we need very strong support from international partners - we have to gain support so that the occupiers will not take such steps in the future or if they do, they pay a very high price for it, Public Defender Levan Ioseliani told reporters when talking about the killing of Georgian citizen Tamaz Ginturi by Russian occupation forces.

The Ombudsman made this comment to the media in the village of Kirbali, where he attended the civil funeral of the murdered citizen.

According to Levan Ioseliani, the Office of the Public Defender was involved in the case from the first minute.

"I express my condolences to the family of the deceased, it is a great tragedy for the whole country. From the first minute, of course, we are involved in everything in our direction. The most important thing today is for the Georgian state to do everything to prevent similar cases from happening again. In this we need very strong support of our international partners, in this we need active steps of the government with our international partners. Of course, in this case, we, as the Public Defender's institute, should take the matter into account, convey this information and gain support so that the occupiers will not take such steps in the future, or if they do, they pay a very high price for it," said Ioseliani.

The Public Defender also answered the question, in which direction should the security be tightened near the occupation line, noting that "the state should take all effective steps to protect security".

"I go to the occupation line every month in order to meet people directly and learn from them about the legal situation and the violations that take place there. As for the security part, there are sections where security is more strengthened and protected, there are [sections] where it is easy to get to, this depends on exactly where the representatives of the occupation regime are stationed. It's outside of my competence to answer this question, but it's very important that our citizens are kept safe. The state must take all effective steps to protect security. Where I meet the population at the occupation line, those people are only grateful to our policemen at the checkpoint and express their gratitude to them. There were several cases when the policemen saved our citizens from kidnapping, including returning the abducted, so there is really nothing more to say than thank them in this part. As for whether there should be a [checkpoint, or security measures taken], I cannot give you an answer because it is not my competence," said Levan Ioseliani.