One person has been charged with terrorism in Georgia for allegedly using social media to advocate the hostage taking of the Armenian ambassador, DFWatch reports.
The Georgian national, whose identity is being withheld by authorities, used Facebook to call on people to take the Armenian ambassador hostage.
This happened in 2016, when there was an escalation of violence in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which drew a dividing line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Georgia.
The ethnicity of the suspect has not been made public.
According to IPN agency, the suspect posted on Facebook during the 2016 escalation of violence, calling on ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Georgia to gather near the Armenian embassy in Tbilisi. The suspect touted the audience, writing that it was necessary to burn Armenian flags, break into the embassy building and take the ambassador hostage.
Although the threat was never acted on, there began a criminal prosecution against the suspect about two years later. The investigation has taken so long time because investigators have been waiting for answers from officials and from the Facebook corporation, to confirm that the person who posted on the social media site was in fact the person in question.
The suspect has now been released on bail while the case is being prepared for the court.
