TBILISI/JUNE 5 2021 (The Bulletin) — A court in Georgia accused a bishop of presiding over a sadist regime at a school for disabled orphans that beat and sexually abused children, rare criticism of the Orthodox Church in Georgia where it is held in high esteem.

The court order to remove disabled children from the church-run school will also embarrass the ruling Georgian Dream government which has been criticised for its close ties with the Orthodox Church and for being reluctant to carry out a full investigation at the Ninotsminda Orphanage despite evidence of abuse. 

Four investigations since the orphanage was opened in 2015 have fallen through.

Anna Arganashvili, head of the Partnership for Human Rights NGO which had pushed for the court’s intervention, said: “The court decreed that if children are in danger today, it must be stopped immediately. This is crucial.”

The Georgian Orthodox Church, and Bishop Spiridon Abuladze whose jurisdiction the orphanage falls under, have denied any wrongdoing and appealed the court’s decision to effectively close the school where 57 children had lived.

Media reported that the Ninotsminda Orphanage, 160km southwest of Tbilisi, is one of three orphanages that the Georgian Orthodox Church runs. Online reports quoted children from the school as saying that they had been placed in stress positions, beaten and abused.

In Georgia, with its instinctively traditional culture, the Orthodox Church is one of the most powerful institutions in the country. Analysts have said that an unofficial alliance with the Orthodox Church has been vital to the Georgian Dream’s election successes since 2012. 

Last month the Georgian Dream was one of the only political parties in Georgia not to sign a pledge to protect gay rights, which the Georgian Orthodox Church opposes.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 487 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on June 9 2021

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2021