Bible Society staff beaten, Scripture books and blankets burnt in violent attack in Georgia

TBILISI, Georgia — Three staff members of the UBS office in Georgia were beaten up and many Scripture books and blankets destroyed during a violent attack led by an extremist rebel ex-priest on March 10.

Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, General Secretary of the UBS office, cut short his study leave in Oxford, England, to return to Georgia and the Rev Miller Milloy, UBS Europe-Middle East Regional Secretary, wrote to Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, expressing his “deep concern at events in Georgia”. Mr Milloy urged the president to “take immediate action to protect our [UBS] staff and property.”

Ambushed

A mob of about 60 people, led by Vasily Mkalavishvili – a defrocked priest well known for violent activities – ambushed a truck containing 1,500 blankets and 1,870 books bound for the Bible Society. They beat three Bible Society workers and the driver, and set fire to the goods. Local police eventually arrived and broke up the attack but not before many copies of the newly-published Georgian translation of Opening Up the Bible – an introductory study guide – were destroyed. Some of the blankets, which were donated by the French Bible Society for relief work among refugees, were stolen.

“The staff are very distressed, and not only those who were victims of the raid,” said Bishop Songulashvili. “The rest of the staff are also thinking it could happen to any of them now. There is an enormous feeling of insecurity. There are fears that there is an informer inside the Customs Service who is letting [Mr Mkalavishvili] know about any kinds of books arriving in the country. He and his supporters are determined to control the religious situation in Georgia and not to let any Western influence in.

Growing concern

“There is a growing concern as to the forces behind this ex-clergyman because he has been responsible for all kinds of violence over a number of years but has never been held accountable. This raises all kinds of questions,” added the bishop.

In his letter to the president, Mr Milloy pointed out that the rebel ex-priest is “still at large”, despite the fact that the police, the Ministry of State Security, the Georgian Parliament and the media are aware of his activities. He emphasised the fact that the UBS is a “non-confessional Bible-publishing entity wishing to serve people of all churches and of none”, and that the UBS is registered in Georgia as a foreign company and not a religious organisation.

The Human Rights Committee of the Georgian Parliament has expressed “outrage” at the attack and has urged the government to take serious measures against Mr Mkalavishvili’s activities.

In the meantime, the Bible Society is determined to continue its work among refugees, many of whom are from Chechnya and Abkhazia.

“The blankets that were not stolen in the attack will soon be taken to the refugees as part of our relief work,” said the bishop. “The country has been involved in three civil wars in the last 10 years and there are about 300,000 refugees and internally-displaced people in the country. We intend to provide Scripture Portions and Selections in Russian for them.” (WR 360/4 - 06.01) [PHOTOS] e-143

Some of the information in this story is taken from a report by Keston News Service.