Georgian activist has been sentenced to 5 days of arrest for vandalizing an icon featuring Stalin
In Georgia, activist Nata Peradze has been sentenced to 5 days of administrative arrest. This decision comes after she published a video on January 9 featuring an icon depicting Joseph Stalin doused with paint in the Trinity Sabor in Tbilisi.
Peradze contends that her arrest is a response to the demands of radicals, emphasizing that authorities did not previously address threats from these radicals to harm her:
“I won’t be intimidated, the struggle continues […] They will regret [sending me to prison] because I will expose what happened to me […] They have unquestionably acquiesced to the radicals’ demands. This is yielding to the whims of radicals […] Until now, the court sometimes imposed fines, but they observed that it did not deter us. Now they have resorted to intimidation tactics […] We will appeal this decision by the city court.”
Peradze reports ongoing threats and expresses the need for protection. Despite receiving offers of assistance from the United States, she asserts that the ruling Georgian Dream party has ignored her appeals.
Comments:
Georgi Kandelaki, Laboratory for Studies of the Soviet Past: “This icon, among other things, insults church ministers who were victims of Stalin, killed directly on his initiative. It is an ‘attack on the church.’ It is a spit on the graves of tens of thousands of patriots of this country who sacrificed themselves in the struggle against Stalin and the Soviet Russian occupation initiated by Stalin.”
Gela Mtivlishvili, journalist, editor-in-chief of Mtis News: “Judge Nino Shcherbakova is a servant of the system. This woman has nothing to do with common law and justice! She signs whatever she is ordered to sign! No reform will help this justice until we throw these so-called ‘judges’ out of the judicial system!”
Background:
It remains uncertain who exactly poured blue paint on the controversial icon featuring Stalin. However, on January 9, 2024, video footage of the defaced icon was published on social networks by activist Nata Peradze. Stalin is portrayed on the icon alongside his contemporary, St. Matrona of Moscow, with the alleged meeting captured in the depiction.
The Interior Ministry initiated a case under Article 166 of the Administrative Code, citing petty hooliganism.
On January 10, ultra-right pro-Russian activists gathered near Peradze’s residence and issued threats. The police successfully intervened to diffuse the situation.
Shortly afterward, the ruling Georgian Dream party declared proposed legislative changes aimed at enhancing criminal legislation concerning the desecration of religious buildings and sites.
According to Henri Ohanashvili, the Chairman of the Parliament’s Legal Committee, the sabor incident, while carrying the possibility of legal consequences, lacks corresponding punishment under the existing legislation.
On January 11, the Patriarchate of Georgia announced that Stalin would be removed from the icon. Simultaneously, they mentioned the insufficient evidence of his alleged meeting with Matrona.
