TBILISI, October 30 - RAPSI. Preliminary hearings in the case of Russian citizen Akhmed Chatayev, who was detained during a military operation near the Daghestani section of the Georgian-Russian border in September, will resume at the Tbilisi City Court on November 1, NEWSGEORGIA news agency reported on Monday, citing Chatayev's attorney Nino Andriashvili.

During a military operation that began on August 28, 2012 against an armed group in Lopota, Georgian Special Forces engaged an unidentified armed group which had allegedly taken several people hostage in the Lopota gorge not far from the border between Georgia and the Russia's Republic of Dagestan.

At least 14 people were killed in the operation, among them 11 members of the armed group (including at least two Georgian and five Russian citizens) and three Georgian Special Forces personnel. On September 8, the Foreign Ministry reported that Russian citizen Akhmed Chatayev, one of the suspected militants, had been detained.

Chatayev has been charged with illegally obtaining, storing and carrying explosive devices. He faces 3-5 years of imprisonment. Andriashvili said that the charges brought against him are illegal. She said that Chatayev arrived in the Lopota gorge to hold negotiations. These negotiations were not able to take place, however, and he himself was detained.

In January 2010, the Georgian news agency reported that, Chatayev was detained in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported that he had already been placed on the Interpol's wanted list. During his detention, bomb-making instructions were found on his telephone.

In the spring of 2011, Chatayev was detained on the Bulgarian-Georgian border; a Bulgarian court ruled to extradite Chatayev to Russia. But the Bulgarian Appellate Court later dismissed the ruling as Chatayev had been granted political asylum in Austria and was therefore subject to the Geneva Conventions and the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Last Sunday, a protest demanding Chatayev's release was held in eastern Georgia's Pankisskoye Gorge.