Bishop of Marneuli Alleges Government Official Plotted to Kill Him

"I will avoid personalizing it. It's extremely sorrowful that individuals who broke bread with me, ate and drank with me, whom I considered brothers... precisely this person was summoned, charged, all of this was heard. As the shepherd and judge of the eparchy, I passed judgment that he is a betrayer, like Judas, and

a traitor who was preparing my murder, my liquidation. He had swayed my nun for a year, who lived in the residence, and to whom they were issuing instructions…

This man is a senior official, specifically a representative of the state security service. The nun was taking out all information from the residence. I don't know what they blackmailed her with, I don't know what they did to her, although I do know, but I'm refraining from saying it now.

For a year, they were working on her, telling her that she either had to put poison in my food, or they would give it to her, she would apply it to my hand, and within an hour I would be gone. Such events and situations are occurring in the eparchy. This person, it's no secret, was beaten along with his guards and fled from here with his tail between his legs. Of course, I did not lay a hand on him, as I have a high obligation of patience as a hierarch, and now anything is expected from him, all kinds of provocations.

I believe forces stand behind him; this person is a member of the government, a current active member of the government.

If the authorities, the government, do not distance themselves from him, then many other things will become clear to me," said the Bishop of Marneuli.

Based on Bishop Giorgi Jamdeliani's statement, in which he spoke about the preparation of his attempted murder, the Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation under the article of preparation for intentional murder.

The Bishop states that he does not intend to cooperate with the Prosecutor's Office or give testimony to the investigation, within the scope of the rights granted to him by law. 

According to Article 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia, a clergy member is not obliged to be questioned as a witness or to hand over an object, document, substance, or other object containing information relevant to the case, with regard to the circumstances that he/she has come to know as a result of a confession or other act of confiding.