UPDATED: Russian Duma MP claims "radicals" doused him in water during Georgian parliament incident
The screengrab of MP Sergei Gavrilov addressing the Georgian parliament from the seat of its chair went viral on Georgian social media on Thursday. Photo: Screenshot from Georgian Public Broadcaster video.
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Updated: 18:35
Russian State Duma MP Sergey Gavrilov has revealed the Russian delegation for the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in Tbilisi will remain in full contingent in the wake of the incident at the Parliament of Georgia.
Gavrilov has told Russia's Ria Novosti the delegation's participation in the IAO will "stick to the agenda" with "no plans for reducing [its capacity]".
We are ready [to continue the work] and have support from the delegations of Jordan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia... There are no plans for reducing anything until we review the agenda," the lawmaker told the news agency.
Earlier: 15:18
Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov has claimed "radicals" in the Parliament of Georgia doused him in water and attempted to forcefully take his papers in an incident at the lawmaking body in Tbilisi on Thursday.
Gavrilov, Head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Issues of Public Associations and Religious Organisations, was confronted by a number of Georgian MPs as he took up the seat of the chairman of the parliament to deliver his address as part of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) hosted in the Georgian capital.
Opposition MPs in the Georgian parliament protested the Russian lawmaker's address from the seat based on his supposed participation against Georgia in the 1992-1993 War in Abkhazia and Russian military's ongoing occupation of Georgia's Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
They broke into the hall, captured the tribune and my seat. As we were on a break, they began looking for me, attempted to forcefully take my papers, doused me in water [and] presented pictures of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Gavrilov told Russia's Ria Novosti news agency following the incident.
The Duma MP also told the agency those confronting him demanded his handing over for the alleged participation in the Abkhazian conflict, however denied taking part in the 1990s war in the region and called the allegations "fake".
The interrupted IAO meeting was scheduled to be held in Tbilisi between June 19-22. About 100 participants of delegations from 25 countries are in Georgia for the assembly.
Gavrilov, who heads Russia's delegation at the assembly, told Ria Novosti participants of the event would "meet to discuss ways of continuing" the meeting.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says that it was very difficult for him to see a Russian MP speak from the seat of the Georgian parliamentary chair. He says that the fact “affects national interests and the Georgian parliament.”
Russian MP Alexey Chepa, who is currently paying a visit to Georgia to attend the interparliamentary session on Orthodoxy, has denied occupation of Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) by Russia. Has also called for the return of the Soviet Union, and for the countries of the former USSR to be reunited.
Georgian opposition MPs have interrupted the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) after a Russian MP and president of the assembly, Sergey Gavrilov addressed the audience from the Georgian parliamentary speaker’s chair earlier today.
Georgian Foreign Ministry official Vladimir Konstantinidi says the Foreign Ministry agrees with the ‘fair’ public protest regarding the Russian MPs’ visit to Georgia. He stated the Foreign Ministry permanently raises the issue of the occupation of two of the country’s regions as this is the key priority for the agency.
Morning of June 20 protests outside Georgian parliament
Political opposition and part of the public erupted in protest in Tbilisi on Thursday after a Russian State Duma MP took a seat of the chairman of the Parliament of Georgia for an address to the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in the capital.
The police Special Forces are trying to prevent the protesters from entering the building of the Georgian parliament in central Tbilisi. The Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia who went to the parliament said this is an attempt "to storm the state institutions" and called on the demonstrators to obey the police.
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has called for "calm" amid unrest in Tbilisi as protesting crowds have been dispersed by police using tear gas in front of the parliament building.
The United States Embassy in Georgia has offered its reactions to the developments in Tbilisi where protesters repeatedly clashed with police, saying the diplomatic mission closely followed the events and urged for calm.
The protesters are leaving the demonstration in front of the parliament of Georgia in central Tbilisi as the law enforcers have used tear gas and rubber bullets. The number of injured is not officially announced yet, but Georgian media reports a dozen of people have been damaged.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered a ban on flights to Georgia as part of Russian state reaction to protest in Tbilisi following a Duma MP's appearance in the Tbilisi parliament.
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Georgia Ihor Dolhov temporarily left the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in protest when the member of the Russian parliament Sergei Gavrilov was addressing the audience in Tbilisi.