President Margvelashvili condemns violent clash outside Patriarchate

The Georgian President has condemned yesterdays violent clash, which broke out during a protest against the Patriarchs controversial Christmas epistle.

In his Christmas speech, the religious leader voiced strong opinions against surrogacy, artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

According to President Giorgi Margvelashvili, the violent acts which took place outside the Patriarchate were completely unacceptable and would not be tolerated under any circumstances.

" [This] is the governments strong will. That has also been emphasized by the Georgian Patriarch too. Historically Georgia is a tolerant country with receptiveness to different ideas. That has made us preserve our diversity and we fairly proud of it, he said.

"Media is free in Georgia and [the media] has to facilitate discussion of challenging topics. Moreover, media has to become the venue of the discussion of these important public issues, Margvelashvili said.

He believed that Georgias ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity should be celebrated not criticized.

The President called for supporters to respect their opponents ideas.

"Freedom of expression is a constitutional right that is inviolable, he said.

A verbal clash between the two demonstration groups turned into a physical argument, which led to four people being arrested by police.