Protests erupt in Tbilisi after Russian Duma MP takes tribune of Georgian parliament's speaker in capital

Citizens gathered on Rustaveli Avenue following an incident at the parliament where opposition MPs confronted Russian State Duma member Sergey Gavrilov, who took the speaker's seat during the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy hosted in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A banner in Russian tells Russia's occupation forces in Georgia's regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to leave the territories, following the appearance of Gavrilov in the Georgian parliament. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Participant of the Rustaveli Avenue protest photographs the event in the wake of the incident in the parliament. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

The protesters expressed their discontent with the Georgian lawmaking body's hosting of Gavrilov, who was alleged to have participated in the 1992-1993 War in Abkhazia against Georgian forces. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A wider theme of the protesters concerned the presence of a Russian lawmaker in the Georgian parliament while Russian troops continue to occupy two of Georgia's regions since the 2008 war between the two countries. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A message to Russian president Vladimir Putin is delivered outside the Parliament of Georgia during protests on June 20. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A banner in Georgian tells occupying Russian military to leave Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), two Georgian regions, on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Political leaders from the opposition and public figures joined protesting citizens outside the parliament in the Georgian capital. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A view on protesting citizens gathered on June 20 in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Those gathered outside the parliament blocked the main avenue of the capital and demanded repercussions for government members and the ruling party while aiming their messages at the Russian military's presence in the occupied regions. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Citizen activists brought Georgian flags and banners on the theme of occupation outside the parliament. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Author Lasha Bugadze addresses the crowd during the protests. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Politicians from the former government were among those speaking at the June 20 rally. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A protester on Rustaveli Avenue is photographed with an outline of Georgian sovereign territory on their arm. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

The protest on Rustaveli Avenue, in front of the parliament, followed earlier demonstrations in Tbilisi during the day, sparked by the appearance of the MP of the Russian Duma in the Georgian lawmaking body. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Sergey Gavrilov, who chairs the Russian Duma's Committee on Issues of Public Associations and Religious Organisations, also headed the Russian delegation at the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in Tbilisi during his appearance in the parliament. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

A speaker at the protest of June 20 is seen on screens capturing events of the demonstration in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Russian MP Gavrilov claimed "radicals" in the Parliament of Georgia doused him in water and attempted to forcefully take his papers following his appearance in the lawmaking body on Thursday. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

Members of the Russian delegation to the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in Tbilisi left Georgia following the incident in the parliament, followed by protests in the street. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.