Orthodox priest warns Georgian officials against ‘sinful’ cruelty to protesters

‘This letter will be a testimony, that you knew that you were sinned and if you do not repent, it will be harder to justify yourself.’

Fr Georg Tserodze, a prominent Orthodox priest in Georgia, issued an open letter to the head of a government security body urging him to stop its brutality against protesters.

“Zviad, you commit sin by being cruel to the protesters,” the priest wrote in a social media post on 3 February, addressing by his first name Zviad Kharazishvili, head of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“Everyone around you who behaves like this is also a grave sinner. Repent, amend your actions, and bring them at least within the framework of law or even divine righteousness. This letter will be a testimony, that you knew that you were sinned and if you do not repent, it will be harder to justify yourself,” Fr Tserodze wrote.

He said that the statements of this letter would find support not only among Christians but also Jews, Muslims, and even numerous non-believers.

“Do we sin when we go out to protest? No, we do not sin, because we want a better life. Wanting a better life is not a sin, rather a blessing from God. God wants all people (not the ‘chosen ones’, especially not through injustice) to live in an environment of kindness, caring, peace and respect,” Tserodze wrote.

Daily protests began across Georgia after botched parliamentary elections last October, when the pro-Russian party “Georgian Dream” claimed victory and effectively blocked the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.

The open letter by Fr Tserodze came amid increasing number of arrests of protesters, including opposition leaders, journalists and public figures.

On 30 January, Tserodze issued an open address to the Georgian prosecutor’s office, urging it to soften the charges against the detained journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, the director of the independent outlets Batumelebi and Natgazeti, who was arrested during the protests in Batumi and faces criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a police officer. Since her detention on 11 January, Amaghlobeli has been on a hunger strike.

On 17 February, the Tbilisi-based news outlet Civil Georgia reported that the EU’s ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski had expressed concern at deteriorating press freedom in Georgia and the “stark reality” in the country.

Speaking at the EU Prize for Journalism event in the capital, Herczynski highlighted the imprisonment of journalists and the impunity of those who commit violence against them. In a country striving for EU membership, this should not be happening, the ambassador said.

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