Georgia: Appeal cases: Police allegedly support attack on Jehovah's Witnesses by radical supporters of the Georgian Orthodox Church: Further information

Index Number: EUR 56/018/2001
Date Published: 19 December 2001
Categories: Europe And Central Asia, Georgia

In February 2001 radical supporters of the Georgian Orthodox Church attacked a congregation of around 300 Jehovah's Witnesses that was gathering for a religious meeting in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The Jehovah's Witnesses report that a number of their members were beaten by the radical Orthodox Church supporters who were led by defrocked Georgian Orthodox priest named Basil Mkalavishvili, and furthermore that they were aided, and joined, in the attack by some police officers.