Prisoner faces legal limbo in Georgia's rebel region

MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) Alan Parastayev's family says he was beaten and then refused urgent medical treatment in prison.

But there is nothing they can do about it because the state holding him in jail does not officially exist.

Parastayev is being held on treason charges in South Ossetia, a tiny sliver of land in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains that declared its independence from Georgia but has not been recognised by any country.

Georgia is the legal authority under international law, but it was run out of South Ossetia in a war in the 1990s. Russia backs the separatists but has no jurisdiction in the region.

The separatists deny there is a problem.

''Who should I approach? There is a complete lack of clarity -- South Ossetia is de facto Russia, but de jure Georgia,'' Parastayev's sister, Inga, told Reuters in an interview.

''I am afraid for his life. For over six months I have approached everyone and no one can help, no one can say anything,'' she said at her home outside Moscow.

Parastayev is accused of plotting with Georgia to kill the breakaway region's pro-Russian leader, Eduard Kokoity.

Parastayev's family says he was framed and then beaten into making a confession -- allegations that are being investigated by rights group Amnesty International.

Parastayev appears to have been sucked into the poisonous feud between Georgia, the separatists and their Russian allies over South Ossetia, scene of one of the so-called ''frozen conflicts'' that help destabilise parts of the old Soviet Union.

The widespread fear is that the feud could turn violent again. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili raised the stakes last week by saying he planned to resolve the conflict within ''a matter of several months'', though he did not say how.

POISONOUS FEUD South Ossetia's administration denied allegations Parastayev had been mistreated. ''He was not beaten and Alan Parastayev himself has said that he is being treated properly,'' a spokeswoman said.

''He is of course unhappy with the accusations against him and is trying to defend himself,'' the spokeswoman said. She said he would be put on trial soon.

A former head of the region's supreme court, Parastayev was part of a separatist camp which is out of step with Kokoity because it takes a more moderate line with Georgia.

Parastayev was detained in November, and soon after made a televised confession that he was part of a plot to assassinate Kokoity. The confession was aired on the eve of a referendum that reaffirmed South Ossetia's desire for independence.

Tbilisi and the separatists regularly exchange angry rhetoric, which sometimes spills over into skirmishes between opposing security forces.

The conflict is more than a local spat. Russia has signalled it will use force to defend the region -- where many residents hold Russian passports -- if Tbilisi attacks.

Moscow has compared the situation to that in Kosovo, saying that if the West grants the Serbian province independence, it will be impossible to deny South Ossetians their own state.

Tension on the ground has been unusually high since Tbilisi helped set up a rival South Ossetian government, led by defectors from the separatist side. Some in South Ossetia have fallen under suspicion of ties to the rival administration.

A Reuters correspondent was shown photographs of heavy bruising on Parastayev's legs, arms and stomach. His sister said he has kidney and stomach problems.

''We know about the case and are aware that there are allegations that he was beaten and we saw photographs which show bruises on his body,'' Anna Sunder-Plassmann, a researcher at Amnesty International, said by telephone.

''According to what we know there has not been an independent investigation into the allegations of mistreatment,'' she said.

REUTERS SLD DS1352