23:45, 2 July 2022

Twenty-six people detained in Tbilisi during action against LGBT Week

The action held by the "Alt-Info" in Tbilisi. Screenshot of the video shot by Beka Vardosanidze on July 2, 2022, published on Facebook* https://www.facebook.com/siaxlebeqasgan/videos/1883838631814251

In Tbilisi, during the action against the LGBT Week, policemen detained 26 people, who were accused of hooliganism and disobeying to the police.

Among the detainees, there are Zurab Makharadze and Irakli Martinenko, the leaders of the "Alt-Info", as well as the ultra-right-wing activists – the father and son Guram and Alexander Palavandishvili, said the website of the Georgian Channel One with reference to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

Let us remind you that on July 1-5, 2021, the previous LGBT Week was held in Tbilisi, which should have been ended with the March of Dignity. Last year, on July 5, an anti-LGBT action turned into an attack on journalists, as a result of which 53 media professionals suffered.

On July 6, 2021, Tbilisi hosted an action in support of the victims of violence, while a counteraction of LGBT opponents was held nearby. About 3200 law enforcers were mobilized to protect the Tbilisi Pride participants, but the scale of the counteraction was so great that it was not possible to avoid clashes, Alexander Darakhvelidze, a deputy MIA head, then reported.

In January 2022, the MEPs (Deputies of the PACE – the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) expressed their concern about violations of the freedom of expression of LGBT people in Georgia, which were often accompanied by violence committed at the events organized by sexual minorities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 2, 2022 at 12:37 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot