Georgian Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Ilia II, has called on “everyone not to misuse” prison abuse case for “humiliation of Georgia”.

“Developments of the recent days are a huge shame for our nation and for our country,” he said earlier on September 21 in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.

“Things like this happen in other countries too, but the authorities and the people do not publicize such shameful actions, but they themselves rectify everything and do their best not to allow such things to reoccur.”

“We have already expressed our concern and regret about it and I want to tell everyone, I want to call on everyone not to misuse this, not to use it for humiliation of Georgia and its people,” Patriarch Ilia II said.

He also called on students to refrain from protest rallies in order to reach election day on October 1 peacefully.

“Almost a week has been left before the parliamentary elections and we should do our best to reach this day peacefully; nothing should hamper it. We should do our best in order to secure that these elections are not rigged. Not a single person should be in fear,” he said, adding that every voter should be able to cast ballot freely.

“Some students are thinking about breaking into the university [apparently referring to the Tbilisi State University] and bringing destabilization and unrests into the university… I address you with fatherly love not to cause unrests in our everyday life,” Ilia II said. “On the contrary the students should spare no efforts in order to have peace.”

“Some people benefit from the unhealthy situation and they want to cause an unstable situation in Georgia. It is absolutely inadmissible,” the Georgian Orthodox Church leaders said.