The Chairman of the State Agency for Religious Issues, Zaza Vashakmadze, addressed the conference of the IRFBA - "Freedom of Religion and Belief as a Source of Resilience and Religious Engagement" taking place in the capital of the Czech Republic.

The speech was dedicated to the facts of violation of fundamental human rights, freedom of religion and belief in the occupied territories of Georgia, the A/R of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. In particular, the prohibition of the right of Georgian Orthodox Christians to receive education in their native language, to worship, to move, and to attend religious holidays in churches located beyond the occupation line, which is ethnic-religious discrimination and segregation only against Georgian Orthodox Christians, only against clergy of the Georgian Orthodox Church. “The Georgian Orthodox Christians living in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region are considered by the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church under its canonical jurisdiction. This fact is not formally denied by the Russian Orthodox Church either. Despite the recognition of the state sovereignty of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali by the Russian Federation, the Russian Orthodox Church does not formally recognize the separate dioceses. However, in reality, the Russian Patriarchate is repeating the Kremlin’s policy - the Georgian Orthodox Church has no clergy in Tskhinvali and Abkhazia, cannot manage churches and cannot communicate with the Georgian Orthodox parishioners,” the chairman said.

He also noted that Georgian Orthodox churches are being destroyed and abandoned in both regions, illegal restoration works are systematically underway, the so-called black archaeology is raging, Georgian traces are being erased, i.e. any evidence that these territories are an integral part of the Georgian State. According to the chairman of the Agency, if the world had paid due attention to the 2008 occupation, there would have been no war in Ukraine.

After the speech of the chairman several foreign journalists became interested in the issue. The audience was also interested in the Agency's publication - "Occupied Heritage", which reflects the condition of the cult buildings in the A/R of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.