Interior Ministry imposes administrative fines on 5 offenders for burning Parliament building’s EU flag

The Georgian Interior Ministry on Thursday said it imposed administrative fines on five individuals for desecration of the official symbol and the flag of the European Union, after a group of far-right activists had taken down and burned the EU flag from a pole in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi on Tuesday.

The individuals were fined ₾1000 (about $387) each, the Ministry said, noting the investigation was underway on a possible administrative violation and adding the number of offenders could increase.

• Interior Ministry launches administrative proceedings after far-right activists burn Parliament building’s EU flag [VIDEO]

The incident saw members and activists of the Conservative Movement political party of the Georgian right-wing media outlet Alt-Info on Tuesday taking down the EU flag and making pronouncements against the country’s European integration aspirations.

They replaced the EU symbol outside the legislative body with the Georgian flag and demanded a referendum on the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence, proposed by former members of the ruling party before the public protests and criticism from domestic opposition, civil sector and Georgia’s foreign partners against the draft law, which was retracted last week.

After the incident, the patrol police officers raised the EU flag back at the legislative body.