16:00, 13 August 2010

In Georgia, activists of radical Orthodox movement sentenced to 4.5 years in prison

The Tbilisi City Court has sentenced eight activists of the radical Orthodox movement "Union of Orthodox Parents of Georgia" to 4.5 years of imprisonment each. They were detained after the incident in May 2010 in the TV Company "Kavkasia". The convicts were accused of hooliganism and "interfering with journalist's professional work."

The court's ruling states that it has nothing to do with any religious or personal views, the IA "News-Georgia" reports.

The incident in the "Kavkasia" happened on May 7, when debates in the "Barrier" programme on the book "Saidumlo Siroba" written by Erekle Deisadze, in the title of which the notion of the Last Supper was distorted with use of obscene lexicon, turned into a street fight. Later, the fight burst out also in the studio, where operators and the head of the "Kavkasia" suffered.