Threats preceded arson fire at Culture House in Pankisi Gorge

The "Kakheti Regional Development Foundation", which is located in the Culture House, set on fire in the village of Duisi, had received threats in the Chechen and Georgian languages. Authors thereof expressed dissatisfaction with the education of women and children, said Iza Bekauri, the head of the Foundation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the fact of the arson fire at the Culture House in the village of Duisi, Pankisi Gorge, became known on January 3.

Iza Bekauri told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in November the foundation began receiving threats from anonymous authors via SMS-messages and posts on the Facebook.

"They were angry not only with the fact what we teach music, singing and dancing to children, but also with the fact that we are attracting some of the local women to work, and are training some of them," said Ms Bekauri.

According to her story, the threats were written in the Georgian and Chechen languages. "At that moment we neglected the threats and didn't turn to the police," she explained.

The inquiry is conducted on the fact of the arson, but it is too early to say whether there is a link between the arson and the threats, a police source told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.