Organiser of event causing large protests in Tbilisi resigns as MP

Zakaria Kutsnashvili, the organiser of the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, which led to large-scale public protests last night has resigned as MP.

He has thanked those who voted for him earlier and offered his apologies as well.

'I hold no post but an MP's free mandate. I am ready to quit as MP,” he said.

People protesting Russian MPs' visit to Georgia. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

The 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy which was to be held for the first time in Georgia was interrupted yesterday due to Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov’s appearance in the seat of the Parliamentary Speaker.

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The Russian MP’s action was followed by severe protests from the public and opposition MPs and ended with police dispersing protestors.

The Russian delegation left Georgia shortly after the session was interrupted.  Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry said ‘Georgian radicals seized the building’ and MPs were forced to leave.