Ruling party says ‘political interests’ stood behind Tbilisi Pride
The head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the ‘radical opposition’ stood behind the Tbilisi Pride march. Photo: Georgian Dream press office.
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The ruling Georgian Dream party says that ‘political interests’ and not the interests of the LGBT community stood behind today's Tbilisi Pride march.
Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze has repeated the allegations of the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili made earlier today and said that ‘what is happening now in Tbilisi is in the interests of the United National Movement radical opposition and their partner parties.’
Kobakhidze made the statement and condemned attacks on journalists and others after dozens of people protesting the Tbilisi Pride march scheduled for later today attacked journalists, a tourist and damaged several offices in central Tbilisi.
#Georgia ????????: a man on a scooter reportedly tried to drive into a group of journalists as they were reporting on the anti-pride violence in #Tbilisi.
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) July 5, 2021
Source: https://t.co/SpUIIzAzRa pic.twitter.com/HSffPvAoVL
We have warned Tbilisi Pride organisers that the march could lead to an escalation of the situation and tension and called upon them to refrain from holding the march,” Kobakhidze said.
He stated that the police have done their utmost to prevent incidents. However, it was difficult to prevent all incidents when around 10,000 individuals were on the street, protesting the march.
❗️This is how our office looks like after todays attack. @GovernmentGeo and @MIAofGeorgia failed to protect people and didn't stop aggressive groups to destroy our property..#TbilisiPride21 #Georgia #Pride pic.twitter.com/mLADg7BMgP
— Giorgi Tabagari (@Tabagari) July 5, 2021
The head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia has stated that the government ‘with the hands of the homophobic groups managed by them and the deliberate indifference of police to the cases of violence kills the state.’
The march which was scheduled to complete five-day events of Tbilisi Pride has been cancelled by organisers due to ‘security threats.’