In the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, paint was poured over an icon depicting Stalin. Participants in the pro-Russian movement staged a rally near the home of the activist who published a video from the temple

In Tbilisi, dozens of supporters of the far-right pro-Russian movement Alt-Info staged a rally near the home of activist Nata Peradze, who published a video from the Holy Trinity Cathedral (Tsminda Sameba) with an icon depicting Joseph Stalin doused in blue paint.

Peradze, writes Paper Kartuli, published the video on January 9. Soon the activist reported that she began to receive threats. In turn, one of the leaders of Alt-Info, Shota Martynenko , stated that “the liberals in the cathedral disgraced the icon.” Because of the incident, the police opened a case under the article of petty hooliganism (Article 166 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia).

On the afternoon of January 10, Alt-Info supporters gathered at Peradze’s house, believing that the activist had “desecrated the icon” and they should “do what the state and the law did not do.” One of the movement participants also explained to the police officers who arrived at the scene that Alt-Info considers it unfair that “desecrating” an icon faces a fine, while a participant in the movement for burning the EU flag faces six years in prison.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs called on the organizers and participants of the rally “not to exceed the norms established by the laws on freedom of speech and assembly,” threatening to suppress any violation. As Netgazeti notes , after 16:00 (15:00 Moscow time), participants in the pro-Russian movement stopped the action and dispersed.

• An icon depicting Joseph Stalin and the Matrona of Moscow appeared in the Tbilisi Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Sameba) several months ago. It was donated to the temple by the leaders of the pro-Russian Alliance of Patriots party Irma Inashvili and David Tarkhan-Mouravi, reported . Sputnik Georgia
• The icon drew attention at Christmas, after Giorgi Kandelaki, a researcher at the SovLab Institute for the Study of the Soviet Past, published a video from the temple on Facebook.
• It was reported that similar icons depicting Stalin and the Matrona of Moscow are in churches in St. Petersburg and the Belgorod region.