PM vows ban on “fictitious” religious organizations founded to evade military service

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday slammed the Girchi opposition party and its previous leader Zurab Japaridze for a fictitious religious organization back in 2017,  which had allowed the youth to evade compulsory military service with the use of a “clergyman’s certificate”. 

Calling the initiative “blasphemy and abomination” , Garibashvili claimed the law would prevent the creation of such organizations, as the current Georgian legislation exempts clergymen of any denomination from military service.

The opposition party said that compulsory military service was “very ineffective and losing the time” and “helped” the young people to spend their time more fruitfully by evading it.