Journalists attacked and 20 injured at anti-LGBT protest in Georgia
- Opponents of the march denounced journalists covering the protest as pro-LGBT propagandists and threw sticks and bottles at the journalists
- The Tbilisi Pride group that tried to organise the march said march opponents were supported by the government and by the Georgian Orthodox Church
A protest against a planned LGBT march in the Georgian capital turned violent on Monday as demonstrators attacked and injured some 20 journalists covering the event.
Organisers of the Tbilisi March For Dignity that was to take place in the evening cancelled the event, saying authorities had not provided adequate security guarantees.
Opponents of the march blocked off the capital’s main avenue, denounced journalists covering the protest as pro-LGBT propagandists and threw sticks and bottles at the journalists. About 20 people were injured.
A man identified by some news reports as a journalist for an unspecified foreign news outlet was stabbed several blocks from the demonstration; one suspect was arrested.
Animosity against sexual minorities is strong in Georgia. The Tbilisi Pride group that tried to organise the march said in a statement on Monday that march opponents were supported by the government and by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The Open Caucasus Media group published a photo of a man it said was a local television journalist being pulled away from the demonstration in a headlock by an Orthodox priest.
President Salome Zurabishvili condemned the violence, but Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the march was organised by “radical opposition” forces led by exiled former Preisdent Mikheil Saakashvili.
