PM Kvirikashvili visits Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II in Berlin
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, February 17
Georgia’s Prime Minister, visited in Berlin on February 16 Georgia’s Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II in a clinic where he underwent a Gall bladder laparoscopy four days ago.
The Patriarchate of Georgia says that Ilia II feels well and he will be discharged from the hospital after several days when he is fully recovered.
The PM decided to personally visit Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch after a church-related scandal, when Prosecutor General Irakli Shotadze said archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze was detained in Tbilisi Airport before he flew to Berlin for possessing cyanide.
The Prosecutor stressed the detained archpriest was plotting the murder of a senior clergyman. However, he did not specify the person who was the target of the alleged murder.
The Prime Minister talked to Ilia II and his doctors, adding the Catholicos-Patriarch feels well and he will soon return to Georgia.
The PM noted that when a person crosses the border with a poison and wants to depart to the place where Ilia II is, his arrest means that a huge disaster was avoided.
"It is very important that the Patriarch feels well and will soon return to his homeland. I would like to wish him health and long life,” said Kvirikashvili.
The PM also called on the opposition parties not to speculate over the issue, adding the investigation will find out the truth.
“Our comments over the issue were followed by a stream of speculations, which I think are irrelevant. We will do our best to let the law enforcers complete the investigation and only after this we should speak about the matter publicly,” the PM said.
After visiting Ilia II, Giorgi Kvirikashvili left for Munich to attend the Security Conference 2017, which takes place on February 17- 19. The Conference will gather around 500 leaders and the most important decision-makers to discuss current crises and future challenges of international security.
