- July 9, 2023
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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Far-Right Mob Storms Pride Festival in Tbilisi
A far-right mob numbering in the hundreds stormed a Pride festival in the city of Tbilisi, clashing with police and forcing organizers to cancel the event. The incident comes two years after a Pride march in the Georgian capital was canceled following an attack on organizer headquarters.
As many of 5,000 LGBTQ opponents protested SaturdayÔÇÖs event, and many waved Georgian flags, the Associated Press reported. The mob barged into the festival grounds, breaking equipment, burning flags and placards, and taking stuff from the venue, according to Mariam Kvaratskhelia, an LGBTQ activist who helped put together the event. Police evacuated several dozen people who were at the event, and no one was injured. About 3,000 people registered to attend the Pride event, but the mob showed up before it opened. In a statement, organizers criticized law enforcement for failing to ÔÇ£use proportional force and measures against the attackers,ÔÇØ adding that police ÔÇ£compelledÔÇØ attendees to leave the area on prearranged buses instead of dispersing the mob.
Animosity toward sexual minorities remains widespread in Georgia, a southeastern European nation with a strong Orthodox Christian influence. The ruling Georgian Dream party has been accused of tacitly supporting homophobic and nationalist groups, according to critics and some Western diplomats.
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Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Darakhvelidze stated that law enforcement had difficulty policing an open space, and some protesters managed to enter the festival area by circumventing cordons. Several counterprotesters were arrested. The festival was held on a private, registration-only basis in an attempt to reduce the risk of violent counterprotests for the second consecutive year.
President Salome Zourabichvili, a critic of the ruling Georgian Dream party, suggested that radical groups would be emboldened to disrupt events if police “act like they did today.” She accused Dream lawmakers of stirring up tensions against LGBTQ activists and warned that the ruling party and the majority of the Parliament take responsibility for supporting violence and its consequences.
The European Union’s delegation in Tbilisi expressed disappointment at the lack of security and freedom of assembly, emphasizing the need to hold lawbreakers accountable. The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi and other Western diplomatic missions also condemned the violent attack. Georgia has applied to join the European Union, but official candidate status was not granted last year, pending more reforms. Ukraine and Moldova obtained candidate status at that time.
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