Jehova’s Witnesses

South Ossetia declares Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘extremists’

By | October 16th, 2017|Categories: Minorities|Tags: , , |

Sonya Khubaeva. TBILISI, DFWatch–The supreme court in the breakaway region South Ossetia has ruled that Jehovah’s Witnesses is an extremist organization and banned its activities. When the ruling comes into force in a few days, Jehovah’s Witnesses members will face up to 10 years […]

Jehovah’s Witnesses recorded 51 cases of discrimination in 2015

By | August 18th, 2016|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , , |

A lawyer for Jehovah’s Witnesses wondered why police were not using recordings from the surveillance cameras they have installed. (Rustavi 2.) Some of the discrimination occurs when members try to hand out flyers in the streets. (Interpressnews.) Problems getting a construction permit for a new congregation house in Terjola is one of the cases mentioned in the U.S. State Department’s report. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–On November 23 last year, shots were fired at a building used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Vazisubani, a district in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. When bullets slammed into the building again one week later, a lawyer representing the religious community wondered […]

Man attacks Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kutaisi

By | March 11th, 2016|Categories: Minorities|Tags: |

(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A man attacked a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kutaisi, western Georgia, on Thursday. The inebriated attacker beat him and tore book and, leaflets and smashed the JW stand. The incident took place on Thursday morning near […]

Shots fired at Jehovah’s Witnesses house in Tbilisi – again

By | December 3rd, 2015|Categories: Minorities|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–For a second time in one week, gunshots have been fired at a congregation hall used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Tbilisi. Monday morning, someone fired shots at the Kingdom Hall building in Vazisubani, a suburb in the Georgian capital. […]

Jehovah’s Witnesses house in Tbilisi fired at

By | November 26th, 2015|Categories: Minorities|Tags: |

Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation house being built in Terjola, one of several places the religious community have met resistance from locals. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A house used by Jehovah’s Witnesses was fired at in Tbilisi on Monday night. Witnesses say they heard sounds of shots at about 23:00. At least 15 bullets were fired at the building. No-one was injured. Representatives of the Kingdom Hall […]

Locals in Terjola threaten to start protests against Jehovah’s Witnesses

By | April 27th, 2015|Categories: Minorities|Tags: |

Jehova’s Witnesses are building a new Kingdom Hall in Terjola. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Jehovah’s Witnesses in Georgia claim that they are being discriminated against on religious grounds in Terjola, western Georgia. The conflict started about a year ago. Locals Orthodox Christians are against the construction of a new Kingdom Hall […]

Georgian talk show host makes fun of Jehovah’s Witnesses

By | November 27th, 2014|Categories: Minorities|Tags: , |

Nanuka Zhorzholiani. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A well-known TV host in the republic of Georgia was Wednesday evening criticized for making discriminating statements about Jehovah’s Witnesses while on air. One of the guests on Nanuka’s Show, which is aired on Rustavi 2, a TV channel in the former […]

ECtHR condemns Georgia for harassment of Jehovah’s Witnesses

By | October 18th, 2014|Categories: Opinion|Tags: , |

Sarah Delys is a criminologist working for Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre in Tbilisi. On 7 October, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) unanimously ruled in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the case of Begheluri and Others v. Georgia. The 99 Georgians, all but one of whom are Jehovah’s Witnesses, alleged that they were victims of large-scale […]

Human rights court faults Georgia for its treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses

By | October 12th, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , |

The house where Jehovah’s Witnesses meet in Ozurgeti was attacked January 1, 2014. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The European Court of Human Rights last week found that Georgia has violated the human rights of the Jehovah’s Witnesses community in the country. The violations the court looked at date 14 years back in time, but the group is still being attacked […]

Religious minorities in Georgia shortchanged due to prejudice

By | October 2nd, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , , , , , , |

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been subject to a wave of violent attacks in Georgia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–In the last few years, Georgia has had a surge in discrimination against religious minorities. A new report reveals that also a silent, invisible day-to-day form of discrimination is prevalent within government institutions and among public servants. […]

Jehova’s Witnesses still under pressure in Georgia

By | June 29th, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , |

Jehova’s Witnesses praying in Khobi, Georgia. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Jehovah’s Witnesses in Georgia continue to be under pressure as another community denies the establishment of a prayer house. This time, it is locals in Terjola, a town in Imereti, western Georgia, who refuse to allow another community […]

Jehova’s Witnesses accused of stoking separatism in Georgia

By | March 14th, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , , |

Locals in Khobi, Georgia, accuse Jehova’s Witnesses of stoking separatism because they are using the minority language Megrelian. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Friday, about 100 Orthodox Christians demonstrated in Georgia against Jehovah’s Witnesses constructing a congregation center in their town. The Witnesses began building a Kingdom Hall in the western town of Khobi about a week ago. Today, opponents were […]

January 1 not the first attack on Jehova’s Witnesses in Ozurgeti

By | February 1st, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: |

Giorgi Arbolishvili, spokesperson for Jehova’s Witnesses in Ozurgeti. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–When strangers attacked a car and a house where Jehova’s Witnesses are meeting in Ozurgeti, Georgia, on January 1, it was not the first such attack. Two years ago, strangers broke the windows of Kingdom Hall in Ozurgeti. The perpetrators were […]

New details may help find who attacked Jehova’s Witnesses

By | January 14th, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , |

Police in Georgia have new information which may help in finding those who attacked a gathering of Jehova’s Witnesses in Ozurgeti on January 1, 2014. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–New details might help police find out who attacked Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ozurgeti two weeks ago. In the attack, which took place on January 1, strangers broke the windows of a car the Witnesses were sitting in and threw stones at the building where […]

Jehovah’s Witnesses attacked in Ozurgeti

By | January 3rd, 2014|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch–January 1, unknown persons attacked a gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ozurgeti. According to local media in the Guria region, the assailants broke the windows of a car the Jehovah’s Witnesses were sitting in and threw stones at the building where they […]

Increasing discrimination of religious minorities in Georgia

By | December 8th, 2013|Categories: Minorities, News|Tags: , , , |

A Jehova’s Witnesses book stand on Freedom Square, Tbilisi. (DF Watch.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A human rights group claims there has been an increase in discrimination of religious minorities in Georgia in 2013. On November 15, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Kingdom Hall, located in Upper Etseri, Samegrelo, West Georgia, was shot at twice. […]