Burning flags and posters, damage to stands and the stage: Nationalists stormed and devastated a Pride festival in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. The event had to be cancelled.
Hundreds of ultra-conservative nationalists stormed a Pride festival in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, causing severe damage. They burned rainbow flags, posters and other items. There was also serious damage to stands and an event stage, according to the police no one was injured. The event had to be cancelled.
The attackers, who belonged to various right-wing organizations, shouted anti-queer slogans and broke through the festival’s fence, Georgian media reported. Clergymen from the Georgian Orthodox Church also took part in the initially peaceful protest march against the festival.
allegations against it Ministry of the Interior
The festival should be the end of a week with various political, cultural and scientific events. The organizers hold the Ministry of the Interior responsible for the fact that the registered event was not accompanied by sufficient police protection.
Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili wrote on Twitter that the freedoms of assembly and freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution had been violated. The security forces failed to protect the Pride festival. They also did not intervene against the violence, criticized the head of state, who herself has hardly any powers. Zurabishvili repeatedly accuses the government of pro-Russian tendencies. Officially, the country is striving to join the EU.
EU embassy disappointed
The EU embassy in Tbilisi was disappointed. “Those who incite violence and use violence must be brought to justice,” the agency said on Twitter.
The US Embassy appealed to the Georgian government to protect the basic human rights of all Georgians. It is undemocratic to use violence and intimidation to silence other views. “It runs counter to Georgia’s history of tolerance, compassion and pluralism.”