Polish journalists released in South Ossetia

Sep 9, 2008, 11:22 GMT

Warsaw - A Polish television crew detained in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia was released on Tuesday morning, the Polish Foreign Ministry said.

A reporter and cameraman from TVP, along with their Georgian driver, were stopped Monday by Ossetian police and later handed over to Russian soldiers. Their equipment - including their mobile phones - was also confiscated.

They were turned over by Russian forces to Polish officials on Tuesday morning, the foreign ministry said, in an 'efficient and calm' way. Their documents and equipment were also returned, while Polish officials said they had been treated well.

The crew had traveled there to report if humanitarian aid was reaching the region, journalist Dariusz Bohatkiewicz told TVP.

'Immediately we were accused of being spies. We had our equipment and telephones confiscated, and their contents and recorded materials were looked over many times,' Bohatkiewicz said.

'They [later] called Poland a world-wide prostitute. They charged that we're not grateful to the Russians for freeing us, that we serve everybody for a couple dollars.'

Poland led several former eastern bloc countries in calling for a tough European Union (EU) stance on Russia after its brief but bloody conflict with Georgia.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski emerged as Georgia's strongest supporter in the conflict over two Georgian breakaway regions.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently recognized the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent, defying the pro-Georgian EU and US.

Polish-Russian relations also reached new highs after Poland signed a deal with the US to place part of an American anti-missile system on its soil in exchange for military aid.

The US says the system is meant for protection against 'rogue states' like Iran, but Moscow says it is aimed at Russia's nuclear arsenal.