Liberal Scholar Egged and Verbally Assaulted

Levan Berdzenishvili, a liberal minded scholar and professor of literature, was attacked in central Tbilisi. An unknown young man threw eggs and swore at him calling him traitor.

Berdzenishvili has been earlier targeted by ruling party-affiliated media for allegedly distorting Georgian history, and in particular for the lack of respect towards King Erekle II of Georgia, who he criticized for aligning the country’s with Russia in 18th century. He was subsequently targeted by self-styled “conservative” mob (organized by the Telavi organization of the “Conservative Movement”) who prevented him from holding a public lecture in Kakheti region.

In relation to the today’s incident, Berdzenishvili said that the aggression against him is politically motivated and ordered by the government, saying: “There was Zura Girchi [Japaridze], now it will be Levan Berdzenishvili and then someone else, and Kobakhidze will tell us that it is an outraged citizen”. He said he does not plan to involve the police in the matter, saying: “I don’t think that the police are on my side and the side of the citizens, so I don’t trust the police”.

Commenting on the incident, the Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani wrote in his Facebook post: “Democracy means living together peacefully with people who have different opinions. The aggression that exists today on social networks among people with different opinions, if we translate it into life, we will definitely get civil confrontation”. He urged law enforcement agencies to react and take legal action.

While condemning violence GD Chair Irakli Kobakhidze highlighted that there are individuals in Georgia who are actively working to polarize the society, incite radicalism, promote aggression, and oppose everything related to national identity. According to him, they directly confront the church and the patriarch, engage in unacceptable agitation, and even fight against Georgian kings who passed away 250 years ago, adding: “It’s not allowed for a person, if I’m not mistaken, who uses the status of a professor to come out and curse our hero kings”.

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