Far right Georgian March movement, known for its anti-LGBT activities, creates political party
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The Georgian March civil movement, known for its anti-LGBT rallies, has created a political party called Georgian March - National Movement earlier today.
The leader of the Georgian March Sandro Bregadze, who founded Georgian March back in 2017, says that his group has joined with another movement called ‘Georgia’ and formed one new party.
Bregadze says that the current political situation called for the creation of the party 'which will ensure the building of a fair and a democratic Georgian state, which will be based on national values.’
The party has plans to protect ‘ethnic, religious and cultural rights of people, strengthen state independence, reintegrate the occupied territories and ensure worthy living conditions for the Georgian people.’
The Georgian March has organised and participated in almost all anti-LGBT+ rallies and demonstrations in Georgia since 2017.
There were involved in the demonstrations organised against the gay-themed film And Then We Danced.
The movement has also demanded the deportation of certain migrants.
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.
A leader of an anti-LGBT rally held in front of the Georgian parliament, Guram Palavandishvili, has been detained for insulting a police officer, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.
Tbilisi Pride will be held despite threats of disruption, event organisers said in a statement released earlier today amid public tension. They say that “informal groups” pose threats to the LGBT events and the state is unable to ensure the rights of supporters and participants of Tbilisi Pride.
Businessman Levan Vasadze, who had earlier called for anti-LGBT activists to form ‘patrols’ to prevent events for Tbilisi Pride, says no such groups will be formed for now. The decision came after the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs earlier yesterday.
An audio recording has gone viral in which the leader of Georgian ultra-right party Georgian March-National Movement Sandro Bregadze allegedly speaks with the member of Russian Federation Council (an upper house of the Russian parliament) and a former employee of the Russian intelligence service, Igor Morozov.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a police raid on an LGBT NGO office in Tbilisi back in 2009 under the United National Movement government was motivated by homophobic or transphobic hatred and constituted a breach of human dignity.
Facebook deleted two dozen pages, 12 groups and more than 30 accounts from Georgia across its two platforms in March after "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" from their content was found to have links to the Georgian March ultranationalist party.