The Union Century 21 continues to organize information meetings at the eparchies of the Orthodox Church of Georgia.

On December 28, 2017, the Organization conducted the meeting with the clergy of Mtskheta-Tbilisi Eparchy at the conference room of St. Archangel Michael Church. The meeting, dedicated to the problem of hate speech, was opened by Father Alexandre Galdava, the head of the Church, Archpriest. He dealt with the purpose of the meeting, problem of hate speech and cooperation between the Church and the Union Century 21.

Ms. Ia Tikanadze, Director of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Georgia, mentioned that this meeting was a continuation of those actions taken by the Union Century 21 since 2012 with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. According to her, introduction and promotion of western values are especially important in the light of Georgia’s integration into the EU, intense Russian propaganda and other challenges.

The new publication prepared by the Union Century 21 was presented to the meeting participants.

Paata Gachechiladze, Program Director of the Union Century 21, made presentation on the above publication and spoke on its content including:

• Definition of hate speech and general information on hate speech;
• Hate speech in international legal documents and recommendations;
• Respective decisions of European Court of Human Rights;
• Hate speech in legislation of the countries members to the EU;
• European Commission against Racism and Intolerance – report on Georgia and Georgian legislation.

Examples of use of hate speech, including in the field of religion, were given and reviewed. The presenter answered the participants’ questions. The meeting ended with discussion. 

The meeting was chaired by Ms. Tea Gogotishvili, representative of Georgian Orthodox Church at Interreligious Relations Council.

The meeting was held within the scope of the project “The Problem of Hate Speech and Facilitation to its Resolution in Georgia”, implemented with the support of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Georgia.

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