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President Vows to Defend Christianity, Eradicate Extremism

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili today called defrocked Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili and his supporters extremists, saying that the Georgian authorities will eradicate extremist religious movements in the country.
 
“My supreme goal is to defend our religion and avoid any extremist movements in Georgia,” President Saakashvili told reporters on March 12.
 
Georgian President called on the population to support him in the struggle against extremists.
 
Defrocked Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili, who has been wanted by police since last June for numerous attacks against the religious minorities, was arrested today.

Dozens were injured as a result of clash between the riot police and supporters of Mkalavishvili, as the Church in the suburb of Tbilisi, where Mkalavishvili and his supporters were located was stormed by the law enforcers.
 
Last year Basil Mkalavishvili was sentenced in absence to three month pre-trial detention. He is accused of organized violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses and Baptist-Evangelists and burning their religious literature over a period of several years.
 
This was a second attempt to arrest Basil Mkalavishvili. The first one failed last year, as the police preferred to avoid clashes with the supporters of Mkalavishvili.

Some of the opposition parties condemned the arrest expressing protest regarding “excessive use of force” by the riot police. “It was barbaric,” Pikria Chikhradze of the New Rights opposition party said.

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