KASPI, Georgia, At 12:45 a.m. today, unidentified individuals crept onto the property of Ushangi Bunturi, where meetings and annual conventions of Jehovah's Witnesses have been held for many years. The arsonists doused the site with gasoline and ignited it with a torch, then ran away. The ensuing blaze destroyed equipment to be used for a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses which was to be held on this site tomorrow.
Upon hearing the loud noise from the blaze, the owner of the site, Ushangi Bunturi, and his family reacted quickly to protect their property and preserve their lives. Within seconds, the flames engulfed everything and reached a height of close to ten meters. After 40 minutes firemen arrived at the scene to control the fire. More than 250 benches and construction materials had already been destroyed.
Yesterday, just one day before the convention and only about seven hours before this incident, the Kaspi Chief of Police, Ramazi Gogiashvili, together with two assistants visited the site. They spoke to the owner and requested that the planned convention be moved to another location since a famous parliamentarian was to arrive in the city. The Police Chief then publicly declined all responsibility for possible problems during the convention if the Witnesses did not relocate.