Print this pageFor Immediate Release
September 8, 2000
(Georgian in PDF format)
Masked police bring violent halt to religious convention in Republic of Georgia
ZUGDIDI, GEORGIA—Today a troop of club-wielding police broke up a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses by beating several delegates, setting fire to private property and detonating cannon shells.
The masked police “carved a path of destruction” as 700 remaining delegates fled the convention site, said Kakha Pitskheliani, owner of the private property where the convention was held.
“They not only torched the platform and the seating, they entered our family residence and destroyed everything they could,” Pitskheliani said. “Several delegates were beaten and private property was stolen. It was heartbreaking to see the look of terror on the faces of young children as the attackers detonated cannon shells overhead.”
The police invasion, including attacks on journalists, was reported by Rusatavi 2 Television on today’s evening news. The mayor of Zugdidi, as well as military and police officials, had threatened the convention organizers that they would not allow the convention to proceed, said Genadi Gudadze, a convention speaker from Tbilisi who was present during the attack. The officials ignored several requests to provide written confirmation of a law prohibiting the proposed convention.
The mayor of Zugdidi was advised that Article 25 of the Georgian Constitution guarantees the right of all persons to hold a public assembly without prior permission, said Mamuka Chabashvili, legal counsel for the Witnesses. “Any public official who attempts to disrupt a legal public assembly is in violation of the Criminal Code and subject to prosecution,” Chabashvili said.
Families of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been attending religious conventions at the same site in Zugdidi three or four times a year for the past several years. The conventions are known for being peaceful and orderly. About 2,000 delegates were expected to attend the three-day convention that began Friday in Zugdidi. It was the last convention in a series of seven held in Georgia over the past few weeks. It was the only one to be broken up.
This week, a European parliament delegation denounced recent attacks on Witnesses and others. In a letter to President Eduard Shevardnadze, Human Rights Watch, a human rights monitoring agency, called for an immediate end to the violence.
Contact: J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600