© Photo: Maria Novoselova/Vestnik Kavkaza
The situation with the icon of Stalin, doused with paint in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, forces the Georgian authorities to introduce criminal liability for the desecration of religious shrines. The new law was announced in the Georgian parliament.
The Georgian Dream party will tighten legislation and establish criminal penalties for blasphemous actions against religious sites, the chairman of the relevant parliamentary committee, Anri Okhanashvili, said.
“In the near future, our team will initiate legislative changes to tighten criminal liability for insulting religious buildings or objects. This will affect both Christian Orthodox and other religious buildings – mosques, synagogues, Catholic and other temples,”
– the deputy said.
The parliamentarian explained that legislators are already considering the legislation of countries around the world and Europe, as well as the principles of the ECHR on this issue.
