Religion – Weltanschauung – Recht [ RWR ]

The first applicant, Georgian Muslim Relations, is a non-profit association, whose main objective is to foster support for religious education and to provide free education to socially vulnerable children. The other applicants are seven Georgian nationals who belong to the Muslim minority. The case concerns the authorities’ response to the applicants’ being prevented from opening a Muslim boarding school.

In August 2014 the applicants started renting a building in Kobuleti (Georgia) which they intended to use for the school. However, according to the applicants, their attempts to open the school were repeatedly blocked by local residents, with the connivance of the police and other local authorities. The applicants allege various illegal actions against them, including verbal abuse, the entrance to the school building being barricaded and at one point, in September 2014, a pig being slaughtered in front of the school and its head nailed to the entranceway. The criminal investigation into the applicants’ allegations is still ongoing.

Relying on Articles 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 9 (freedom of religion), alone and in conjunction with Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicant individuals allege that the State failed to take adequate measures to protect them from unlawful mob action, hate speech and other discriminatory actions in the context of their being prevented from opening the Muslim boarding school.

The applicant association, Georgian Muslim Relations, complains under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the European Convention that the authorities failed to ensure that it could use the school building, notably by connecting it to the Kobuleti sewerage system.

• Violation of Articles 8 and 9 in conjunction with Article 14 with respect to applicants nos. 2–8
• Violation of Article 1 of Protocol No 1 with respect to the first applicant

Press release ECHR 333 (2023) 30.11.2023