Abkhaz church leader refuses to accept icon donated by Georgian opposition party leader
Vice Parliament Speaker of Georgia, Irma Inashvili, who is also the leader of opposition Alliance of Patriots paid a visit to occupied Abkhazia on August 18 together with her party member Giorgi Lomia. Photo: Irma Inashvili/facebook.
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The Abkhaz Orthodox Church has refused to accept an icon donated by Irma Inashvili, the leader of the Georgian opposition Alliance of Patriots party.
An official statement released on August 26 by the Sokhumi-Abkhazia Eparchy reads that the Abkhaz Orthodox Church was not aware of the visit of the Georgian opposition party leader, refuses to accept the icon she brought with the help of the advisor to the Abkhaz president, Lasha Sakania, and will return it back.
The statement also reads that such actions will be unacceptable until the Georgian Orthodox Church recognizes the independence of Abkhazia and the Abkhaz Orthodox Church.
Inashvili paid a visit to Georgia’s Russia-occupied Abkhazia region on August 18 together with party member Giorgi Lomaia to donate an icon of the Virgin Mary to the Ilori church of St. George in Ochamchire district.
Lasha Sakania, who had previously claimed that the visit of the Alliance of Patriots had purely humanitarian purposes, announced his resignation on August 26 after Abkhaz opposition party leaders accused him of negotiating with the Alliance of Patriots party.
Before resigning Sakhania stated that his ‘old friend’ from the Russian Federation had asked him to help the Alliance of Patriots deliver an icon to the Ilori church and the visit had no political reasons.
A 65-year-old man from Russian-occupied Abkhazia has been found dead by locals in the Enguri River. Municipal head Elguja Bokuchava said the man was trying to cross to Tbilisi-controlled territory to receive his pension.
Georgia’s Russia-occupied Abkhazia region has placed the village of Labra under a 14-day quarantine amid a coronavirus outbreak. The region’s de facto health ministry announced earlier today that a total of five coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the village in recent days, including one death.
A 52-year-old man has died of coronavirus in the village of Labra in Georgia’s Russia-occupied Abkhazia region. This is the fourth person who has died of the virus in the region.
Opposition parties in Georgia demand the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia be prohibited from running in the October parliamentary elections following the release of an investigation of the Dossier Center, which tracks the criminal activities associated with the Kremlin.
Ruling party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze has made a statement today regarding the recent scandal surrounding the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia which was found to have received financial support from the Kremlin for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has found that the anti-Turkish ads of the opposition Alliance of Patriots party violate the election code, which says that election program of a political party ‘shall not contain propaganda’ for religious or ethnic confrontation.
Worship in churches of Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia has been temporarily suspended until the status of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church has been determined, however the churches remain open to parishioners, the head of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church Father Vissarion (Aplia) said on the air of Abkhaz television, reports Russian media outlet Ria Novosti.
The visit of the Alliance of Patriots opposition party in Moscow, and their proposals of neutrality of Georgia, are “unacceptable” on the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Tbilisi Mayor, said on Thursday.