Anti-occupation protest, counter-rally square up as police separate demonstrators in Tbilisi
Police blocked the road to separate two rallies on Rustaveli Avenue. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
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Police has blocked the road on Rustaveli Avenue to separate two ongoing demonstrations on Rustaveli Avenue, as tensions between an anti-occupation rally and a counter-protest involving clerics and nationalist groups are high in the capital.
Those involved in a rally against the Russian occupation - ongoing since June 20 in front of the Parliament of Georgia - are now facing a counter-protest involving clerics and nationalist groups on the street.
#Georgia #happenningnow pic.twitter.com/XY0MphjqP4
— agenda.ge (@agenda_ge) July 8, 2019
The latter moved on the avenue starting earlier on Monday, with its leaders alleging the anti-occupation protest had ties with Tbilisi Pride, an LGBTQ protest announced for the same day.
The Pride event was first postponed in the morning, before a small group of its activists gathered outside the Ministry if Internal Affairs of Georgia in the evening.
#tbilisiprotests #Georgia #BreakingNews Protesters of today's 2 rallies are standing vs each other in central #Tbilisi on Rustaveli ave devided only by police and 3 empty buses pic.twitter.com/WdcoqauUQq pic.twitter.com/AIB1Uy01Lf
— agenda.ge (@agenda_ge) July 8, 2019
However the group of clerics and nationalist protesters still converged on the area in front of the parliament to counter the anti-occupation protest.
Empty buses and a line of law enforcement officers was moved in to block the space between the two groups, with the interior ministry laying responsibility for a possible clash on the demonstrators.
#tbilisiprotests #Georgia #BreakingNews Protesters of today's 2 rallies are standing vs each other in central #Tbilisi on Rustaveli ave devided only by police and 3 empty buses pic.twitter.com/0VcZ7h3X2s
— agenda.ge (@agenda_ge) July 8, 2019
Agenda.ge is covering the events on the avenue in tweets posted on the official Twitter account.