The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the main judicial body of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in Georgia's lawsuit against Russia.
Georgia attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control on August 8, 2008. Russia repelled Georgia's attack in a five-day war with the South Caucasus country, and then recognized South Ossetia and another former Georgian republic of Abkhazia as independent states.
Since then, Russia has deployed thousands of troops and border guards to the two regions, which Georgia considers part of its sovereign territory. On August 12, 2008, Georgia filed its lawsuit with the ICJ, accusing Russia of discriminating against the Georgian population since 1990.
The public hearings of the case, concerning the Application of the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, will be held on September 13-17.
The Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti that the Georgian lawsuit aims to distract the public's attention from Georgia's own gross violation of international law that occurred when it started the war against South Ossetia in 2008.
Nicaragua, Venezuela and the tiny island nation of Nauru are the only other countries besides Russia to have recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
MOSCOW/TBILISI, September 13 (RIA Novosti)
