Twenty detained for attempting to disrupt Tbilisi Pride events released
During the movie screening, homophobic groups gathered near the event site throwing bottles, stones and eggs attendees. Photo: on.ge.
Tweet 
Share
Twenty individuals detained on July 1 for attempting to disrupt Tbilisi Pride events have been released today, reports the Georgian Interior Ministry.
Three other individuals who were also detained for attempting to disrupt the event and attacked guests with stones and eggs have been sent to pretrial detention.
Tbilisi Pride, a civic movement which opposes homo/transphobia and fights to overcome it through exercising the constitutional right of assembly and manifestation, has scheduled Tbilisi Pride for July 1-5.
On July 1 a presentation of a British documentary film was held, which tells the story of the 2019 Tbilisi Pride events.
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom and France, Mark Clayton and Diego Colas, attended the film screening yesterday and expressed their support for and solidarity with Tbilisi Pride.
During the movie screening, homophobic groups gathered near the event site throwing bottles, stones and eggs attendees.
Dozens of police officers were deployed on the spot, however organisers of the event said eggs were thrown at a representative of the US Embassy, while other guests were beaten by homophobic groups.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has stated that the participants of Tbilisi Pride should use their constitutional right to free expression within the law. Zurabishvili said that violence and the use of hate speech is unacceptable in the country, which ‘has always been distinguished’ by its tolerance. Tbilisi Pride events, which aim to boost the public’s awareness of problems and needs of the LGBT community, begin today and are scheduled to be completed by a march in central Tbilisi on July 5.
The diplomatic corps and international organisations have express their solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) individuals 'in support of equality and human rights for everyone in Georgia'.
The Georgian patriarchate has called on thirty members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and diplomats in Georgia to refrain from supporting and encouraging Tbilisi Pride. Tbilisi Pride, a civic movement which opposes homo/transphobia and fights to overcome it through exercising the constitutional right of assembly and manifestation, has scheduled events for July 1-5.
Thirty MEPs have called for the Georgian Interior Ministry to ensure ‘sufficient and effective protection’ of Tbilisi Pride participants between 1-5 July.
The Georgian Patriarchate says the ‘drastic interference’ of foreign officials ‘in our public and spiritual life’ through supporting Tbilisi Pride events ‘is a matter of severe concern and [is] unacceptable’. The patriarchate has previously called on the members of the European Parliament and diplomats in Georgia to refrain from supporting and encouraging Tbilisi Pride.