Ahead of traveling to a show in Armenia on tour last week, Rotting Christ were arrested in Georgia after being suspected of terrorism due to their band name.
In an account of their detention posted to Facebook by label Season of Mist, frontman Sakis Tolis revealed that he and his brother, drummer Themis Tolis, were stopped by Georgian officials on their way out of the airport.
From there, they were led to a prison cell and were told by officials that a reason for their arrests was "confidential," later finding out through their lawyers that they had been branded Satanists and suspects of terrorism by extension.
"Without previous warning and no official reason, we found ourselves in jail, locked into a small and rather dirty cell and without being permitted any contact to the outside world or legal representation or our embassy for 12 hours. Conditions were bad and no further information provided during this time," Sakis recalled.
Bassist Van Ace and guitarist George Emmanuel, who were both not arrested, worked with the local concert promoter to get both brothers out.
"It took strong efforts and a complicated procedure to find a solution," Sakis wrote. "Due to the hard work of the local promoter, who involved legal experts, journalists, and activists in Georgia, we were finally released. We are extremely grateful to everybody involved in this process. In the end, we were even able to perform our show and it turned out to be a fantastic night. We would also like to thank all our Georgian metal brothers for their overwhelming support!"
Rotting Christ recently released the two-disc compilation Their Greatest Spells. Find Sakis' retelling of their arrest below.
In an account of their detention posted to Facebook by label Season of Mist, frontman Sakis Tolis revealed that he and his brother, drummer Themis Tolis, were stopped by Georgian officials on their way out of the airport.
From there, they were led to a prison cell and were told by officials that a reason for their arrests was "confidential," later finding out through their lawyers that they had been branded Satanists and suspects of terrorism by extension.
"Without previous warning and no official reason, we found ourselves in jail, locked into a small and rather dirty cell and without being permitted any contact to the outside world or legal representation or our embassy for 12 hours. Conditions were bad and no further information provided during this time," Sakis recalled.
Bassist Van Ace and guitarist George Emmanuel, who were both not arrested, worked with the local concert promoter to get both brothers out.
"It took strong efforts and a complicated procedure to find a solution," Sakis wrote. "Due to the hard work of the local promoter, who involved legal experts, journalists, and activists in Georgia, we were finally released. We are extremely grateful to everybody involved in this process. In the end, we were even able to perform our show and it turned out to be a fantastic night. We would also like to thank all our Georgian metal brothers for their overwhelming support!"
Rotting Christ recently released the two-disc compilation Their Greatest Spells. Find Sakis' retelling of their arrest below.