Rotting Christ was accused of Satanism and terrorism.
Two members of the Greek band Rotting Christ were arrested in Georgia on charges of Satanism and terrorism. The lead singer, Sakis Tolis, reported the incident:
“We arrived in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on the morning of Thursday, April 12th. After the regular document check at the border, my brother (Themis Tolis) and I were detained by the police. After a few minutes, we were ordered to proceed to another area of the airport, under the pretext of further questioning before entering the country. Instead, our passports and cell phones were confiscated. When we demanded to be told the reason for the arrest, they simply said that this information was 'confidential'. Our lawyers later informed us that we are on a national security undesirable persons list, labeling us as Satanists and therefore suspected of terrorism. Without prior notice and without official reason, we found ourselves in prison, locked in a small and rather dirty cell, and without being allowed any contact with the outside world or legal representation or our embassy, for 12 hours. The conditions were poor and no further information was provided during this time. Fortunately, only the names “Tolis” were on the list and the other two members of the family were also present.” The band began working with the local prosecutor to get us out of jail and initiate legal proceedings. It took great effort and a complicated process to find a solution. Due to the hard work of the local prosecutor, which involved lawyers, journalists, and activists from Georgia, we were finally released. We are extremely grateful to everyone involved in this process, and in the end, we were able to perform our show, which turned out to be great. We would also like to thank all our Georgian Metal brothers for their overwhelming support!”
After that, the band was allowed to leave the country without further problems and head to Armenia.
Rotting Christ is currently touring in support of their album Their Greatest Spells , which was released this year by Season Of Mist.
