Activists, police clash during protest against religious animal sacrifice in Tbilisi
Activists against religious animal slaughter were detained in Tbilisi
Clashes have erupted between animal rights activists and police officers during a Saturday protest against religious animal sacrifice in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Two protest organizers were briefly detained in front of the Georgian Parliament.
The protest was held on the day of Lomisoba, an ancient Georgian festival, which is usually accompanied by mass slaughter of sacrificial animals.
“It’s an annual demonstration, we’ve been doing this for 7 years and we’ve never had any problems with police,” Nini, one of the rally co-organizers, told JAMnews.
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Several demonstrators, including Vegan Georgia movement members, made a performance depicting activists being slaughtered like hundreds of animals on Lomisoba and other religious festivities in Georgia.
The protest was initially planned to end with a march towards the Georgian Patriarchate before being disrupted by police officers.
“We have warned the protesters multiple times that if they go there [to the Patriarchate building] they will almost certainly clash with religious groups, whose feelings they will offend. We won’t be able to protect them. They didn’t listen, so we decided to arrest the organizers”, one of the policemen at the scene told JAMnews.
Mass animal sacrifice is an integral part of Lomisoba and other local festivals. Сertain mandatory rituals are performed before animals are slaughtered, including singeing off hair behind animals’ ears and on their belly.
Slaughter of sheep, chickens and cows is believed to grant fulfillment of all wishes and bring well-being to families in Georgia.
