Religous Freedom?
dave
The citizens of Georgia who are a part of the Evangelical Faith
Christians of All Georgia write this letter. We see that Georgia has
started to build a very strong Democratic nation and we realize that it
is a very difficult process. In spite of this difficulty, we appreciate
the fact that the Georgian constitution allows us the freedom to confess
our faith freely without persecution and insult. On the contrary, we are
saddened to share with you the following matter.
On May 27 and 28, the Evangelical Faith Church "Madli" (Grace) conducted
an outdoor meeting between Buildings 21 and 22 in Micro Region 3-A of
Gldani, Tbilisi. They sang songs and shared words of inspiration to one
another from the Bible. On the first day everything was peaceful. But
on the second day, two policeman of the Gldani region police station
interrupted their gathering without any warning. These officers asked
the pastor and his wife, Zaali and Nino Tkeshelashvili to follow them to
the police station. In the same evening the pastor and his wife went to
the police station where they were questioned by two police officials,
Gldani Region Assistant
Police Chief Givi Ekizashvili and Shalva Rukhadze. The officers demanded
an explanation of why they were gathering and a complete list of the
names of their congregation. They refused to give the list of names.
After 2 hours, the officers told them that everything was all right and
allowed them to leave. The officers did not forbid them to gather
publicly, they only asked for the volume on the sound system to be
reduced.
On the evening of May 29, the congregation moved to the location of
Building 23 in the same region where several people of the congregation
live. At 6:00 p.m. they began their meeting. After approximately 30
minutes, as one of the ladies was singing a song, two police officials
came to this gathering and again interrupted their meeting. They refused
to give the Pastor their name or their reason in coming. They began to
ask that Pastor Zaali go with them to the police station. This was
completely unexpected because of the meeting with the police officials
the previous night at the police station. After Pastor Zaali promised to
come to the police station following the meeting, the officers left and
the meeting continued.
Within 20 minutes, again without any warning, the Assistant Police Chief
Givi Ekizashvili, stormed into their meeting and forcefully removed the
microphone from Pastor Zaali as he was talking. He harshly insulted both
Zaali and Nino. One of the things that he said was, "Go away from this
place, I will kill you all" (this entire encounter is on video and is
also included in the Georgian transcript). He lost his self-control and
began to say bad words to the people standing around and at that time he
struck Nino and then turned and pushed a 60 year old woman to the ground.
Moments later he threatened to pull out his gun (this can be seen in the
pictures and the video).
Soon after this assault the Gldani Region Police Chief, Tamaz
Davitashvili, also came and began to verbally abuse those gathered there.
He obviously supported his employee's actions, character, and attitude.
The police continued to insult and argue for some time. Therefore,
Pastor Zaali, wanting to maintain peace, called his congregation together
and asked them to leave that place and go to their homes. Most of them
left but approximately 25 (5 men and 20 women) of them went with Zaali
and his wife. As they were leaving the police attempted to take Zaali
and Nino, but because of the large amount of people that had gathered
there, they were not able to. It was impossible for Zaali to go by his
own car. So the 25 people of the congregation knew that they must stay
together to protect each other.
They walked for about 20 minutes toward the Metro Achmeteli. When they
were in the courtyard of the Micro-Region 3, Building 3-B, three police
cars containing approximately 12 police drove in front of them blocking
the group of 25 in the courtyard. They immediately attacked the pastor
and tried to take him by force, but the congregation protected him and
would not allow them to do this. For the next 10 minutes the police beat
this group of people. Gocha Lalebashvili was thrown to the ground and
kicked in the head and face. He has 3 teeth that are now loose. Kakha
Beridze was hit in the face and choked. They put Kakha and Gogi
Tciklauri in one of the cars, but again the congregation freed them. The
pastor was beaten and many of the ladies. The shouting and crying
attracted the attention of many of the people in this micro-region and
because of the inability of the police to overcome the group quickly, the
officers returned to their cars and left.
The pastor, his wife and eleven people of his congregation went to a home
belonging to one of his parishioners. At 11:00 p.m. the pastor was
informed by mobile phone that a large number of the Gldani police force
were aggressively looking for the video tape and Pastor Zaali.
Obviously, the entire congregation was under tremendous distress. For
the Pastor and his wife it was impossible for them to leave Gldani. By
cell phone, they asked 2 American friends to come and take them out.
After the Americans came to take this last group of people, one police
car followed them for approximately 40 minutes. At one point the officers
tried to stop the group in order to obtain the video tape which would
incriminate the Gldani Police Department. Because of the help of these
American friends it was possible to safely come out of Gldani.
>From that night until now, the Gldani police continue to watch the
people who are a part of this congregation and they are attempting to
gather information about them. Pastor Zaali's car remains at
Micro-Region 3-A because of the police activity and the fear of further
repercussions should he return for it.
We support Georgia's effort to establish Democracy and we hope that we
can work together for the final victory of democracy in our country. We
thank you for your kindness and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Pastor of Evangelical Church "Madli"
Zaali Tkeshelashvili
Associate Pastor
Nino Tkeshelashvili
Bishop of the Evangelical Faith Christians of Georgia
Olegi Khubashvili
Pastor Giorgi Jvarsheishvili
Pastor Giorgi Gigoshvili
President of the Association of Evangelical Faith Christians of Georgia
Rauli Khvedelidze
Pastor Gocha Chanturia
Pastor Goderdzi Todadze
David Zlotchenko 1
subjected to police interrigation. I am neither fan of police
nor had ever objected to any religious expression anywhere.
But, I lived, I grow up in your neghborhood. I think I even
remember
the buildings you mention. And I can really easily imagine what
a horoble neighbor you and your followers make.
I lived on the second floor and my window looked on the
court yard between the buildings. All night outdoor weddings
and selebrations, especially
in the Spring and Summer were fairly often sleep disruptions.
In fact zurna sounds still come to me when I have bad sleepless nights.
But imagine what will hear kids from your neighborhood when they
grow up and have a bad night?!!!! They will hear your voice in the
microphone tearing the night appart!
How dear you to do that to your neighbors, to people who have
no expressed interest in your following? Why shout all night?
Why do it in the center of speeping quoter when the city
outskirst are just 15 minuters of walk away? I walked to the
7th microrione
and beyond to the fields many times. Why not to move your
gathering at least to the shoping/parking areas between the
odd and even numbered sections? I remember very well there was
a lot of empty flat land used for ocasional bazars. Why
insist on basically verbal violence, inrusion, diruption
and claim religious freedom as a protective blanket?
I certainly do not know what happened to you in the police,
but here in America, I would expect police to protect me
from night-after-night loud gatherings in anyones back yard
and Tbilisi police seems to be reasonable in this case.
Your repetitious emphasis that police arrived each time
without warning, suggest your ignorance to people
you most surly diturbed and their right for
a quet night after hard working day.
Please correct me if I understood circumstances the nightly
gatherings incorrectly.
A concerned citizen, David Zlotchenko.
dave (do...@fgi.net) wrote:
: To Whom It May Concern:
eisre...@hotmail.com
gaixsna axali Page.Pirvelad sakartveloshi Christianuli Eklesiis Page.
Christian Church Gamarjweba.1993 zels daarsda Pastor Merab Barbakadzis
mier.Revival in Tbilisi,Georgia.
http://members.tripod.de/gamarjweba/mtawari.html
danarchens Pagse ixilavt,Germanul enaze..inglisuri versia mzaddeba da
male ikneba...
aba kargad!
gakurtxot Upalma!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
mg...@my-deja.com
gaixsna christianuli eklesia gamarjvebis webgwerdi.eklesia daarsda 1993
zels pasator merab barbakadzis mier mdebareobs kalak Tbilisshi.epuzneba
Evangelies da ikadageba sruli saxareba.gvzams sulizmindis nichebi /1
korintelta 12(1-11)/ doktrina epuzneba saxarebas da ara adamianta
gadmozemas.
danarchens sheitkobt chwens pagse.Germanuli wersia mzadaa,inglisuri
mzaddeba da male ikneba.
http://members.tripod.de/gamarjweba/mtawari.html
L_e_x_o
>eklesia daarsda 1993
> zels pasator merab barbakadzis mier mdebareobs kalak
>Tbilisshi.
1993 cels?
--
L_e_x_o
L_e_x_o
"dave" <do...@fgi.net> wrote:
> the fact that the Georgian constitution allows us the freedom to
confess
> on the second day, two policeman of the Gldani region police station
> interrupted their gathering without any warning. These officers asked
This is Police's religion. So you going right into
religion war.
Besides, there are many sects in Georgia. As a religion
organizations, they are protected too, and some but few
are sometimes aggressive sects, and they hate other
sects.
As far as I know, some sectants are fanatics, and could
harm other sectants. So, if it's a religion war,
one could expect some losses among believers, and
this could happen very soon. Especially in Gldani,
which, for some obscure reasons is virtually infested
by sects and bizzare sectants. Beware, and be adviced:
gather inside buildings, and pray as much as you want,
to whom you want. DON'T DO IT OUTDOORS.