President of Georgian mediaholding escapes South Ossetian persecution

The president of the mediaholding 'Georgia Times' and the Georgian
civic organization ‘People’s Orthodox Movement’, Malkhaz Gulashvili,
is hiding in South Ossetia from the Georgian authorities, RIA Novosti
reports, citing a source in the South Ossetian law-enforcement
agencies.

“Gulashvili is currently in Tskhinvali”, the source said.

According to News Georgia, Gulashvili could leave the country as a
result of his being summoned for questioning after a fight on the
‘Caucasia’ TV channel on Friday during a debate on the scandalous book
‘Saidumlo Siroba’ (The Lord’s Supper), considered by some experts to
be immoral. Some members of the ‘People’s Orthodox Movement’ were
involved in the incident and detained by law-enforcers. Gulashvili is
targeted in the investigation as a witness.

In a telephone conversation with RIA Novosti, Gulashvili did not
reveal his exact location, although he said that he is in his
homeland, Georgia. He also said that there was no criminal case
against him and that he left Tbilisi due to persecution of him and his
son by the Georgian authorities. Gulashvili noted that he has not
asked for political asylum from the Russian or South Ossetian
authorities.