Greek heavy metal band, Rotting Christ have found themselves in a debacle in Eastern Europe.
Last week two members of the group, brothers Sakis and Themis Tolis, were arrested on terrorism charges upon their arrival to Tbilisi, Georgia, allegedly related to the band’s name.
According to front man Sakis, they were approach by police at the airport.
“We had our passports and mobile phones taken away and were led into a prison cell. When we were demanding to be told the reason for this arrest, we were simply told this information would be ‘confidential’,” Sakis said in a statement.
“Our lawyers informed us later that we are on a list of unwanted persons of national security that branded us as Satanists and therefore suspects of terrorism.”
He says after being arrested, they were kept in a “small and rather dirty” cell without contact with a lawyer or even the Greek embassy for 12 hours.
It took the efforts of their fellow band members, which involved legal experts, journalists and activists to get them released, and in time for their show.
“Luckily only the names ‘Tolis’ were on the list and the other two band members started to work with the local promoter to extract us from prison and commence legal procedures. It took strong efforts and a complicated procedure to find a solution,” said Sakis.
“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!”