Car in Protestant Clergyman’s Driveway Bricked

Last night, the windshield of the car parked in front to fhte house of the Head of the Evangelical-Baptist Church of Georgia, Bishop Malkhaz Songhulashvili’s was reportedly hit by a brick. The incident occurred in the village of Dighomi, near the capital.  

“Christmas greetings from the neighborhood”, wrote Songhulashvili’s wife, Ala Kavtaradze on Facebook today, publishing the photos. It transpired from the comments to the Facebook post, that the rear car window of the pastor of the Evangelical Church, Zaal Tkeshelashvili, was also recently smashed.

The motives of the incident were unclear. Kavtaradze told Radio Liberty that this might simply be vandalism. She said the family has notified the police.

Bishop of the Evangelical-Baptist Church Rusudan Gotsiridze reacted to the incident saying a similar incident occurred in the recent past, but the police investigation was inconclusive. She said while the two incidents may be unrelated, the lack of effective investigation breeds negative expectations.

The Christmas sermon from Songulashvili was extensively circulated on social media for its messaging of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, which differed significantly from the cautious posture of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Civil.ge contacted the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment. The article will be updated according to the response.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)