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.
The March of Dignity will be the final event of Tbilisi Pride Week and will be held tomorrow. Organisers of the event called on supporters through their social media channels to join the march, which was postponed amid the protest rallies in Tbilisi.
Peaceful demonstrators have gathered on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi for the seventeenth consecutive day, again demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia. People gathered at 7 p.m. in front of the parliament of Georgia and later marched to the residence of the ruling party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili in sign of protest
Peaceful demonstrators who have been holding protests in Tbilisi for 19 days already say they will not stop until Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigns. Today however they were unable to take up their traditional spot in front of the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue in downtown Tbilisi as a counter-protest had taken their place.
Anti-occupation demonstrations will renew for the 20th day today at 7 p.m. with the demand of the resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharaia, after anti-occupation and anti-LGBT rallies ended peacefully at the parliament building of Tbilisi yesterday.
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia gave his second televised explanation about the June 20 rally on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi. Speaking with Inga Grigolia, the anchor of Tbilisi-based TV Pirveli, Gakharia said the initial protest rally “was not peaceful”.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has provided an explanation of the Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s statements made yesterday that he watched the storm on the Georgian parliament building on June 20 with foreign ambassadors, from the parliament building of Georgia.
An employee of the Georgian Interior Ministry has been detained for possible abuse of power during the Tbilisi rallies on June 20-21, at the parliament building of Georgia, the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office says.
Peaceful demonstrators have gathered on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi for the fifteenth consecutive day, again demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Today’s rally was different from previous gatherings as it was fully devoted to Georgian musicians performing various music in front of the parliament of Georgia.
Tbilisi Pride, which was scheduled to take place earlier today, has been cancelled “due to increased threats”, as clerics, nationalist groups and their supporters have gathered at different locations in Tbilisi to prevent the march from taking place.