Georgian Parliament Speaker condemns “all kinds of violence”, thanks police officers for ensuring safety during Pride Week

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday condemned “all kinds of violence” and thanked police officers for their efforts to ensure the safety of the participants of Tbilisi Pride Week and journalists.

In his comments to the media, Papuashvili said the police had an “appropriate response” to the counter-protest of the Pride festival and noted “in cases of aggression, as far as I know, the police officers intervened everywhere”, disapproving the disruption of the Pride event with aggression.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was preparing for the event together with its organisers in order to ensure freedom of expression, and the task of the police is to guarantee this. By itself, we condemn all forms of violence. It is important that people are not injured, the police have done their job well in this regard", Papuashvili emphasised, noting that the law enforcement would implement relevant measures.

• Police arrest several participants of Tbilisi Pride Week counter-protests

Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, also made comments on the incident and said the state would prevent “any illegal act and would have a strict response [to it]”.

No matter how different or wrong we deem other people's way of thinking, we cannot physically attack others because of this, it is categorically unacceptable”, he added.

Earlier today, clashes between the police and the participants of the rally against Tbilisi Pride Week occurred, after the protesters tried to enter the closed area designated for the Pride festival. The local media announced that police had arrested several participants.

Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze recently said the participants of the Tbilisi Pride Week had been safely evacuated from the area designated for the Pride festival amid the counter-protest and noted the maximum number of police officers, including Special Tasks Department units, were present at the location to ensure the safety of the participants of the festival.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Friday pledged to ensure safety for the ongoing Tbilisi Pride Week, urged organisers and participants of the potential counter-protests to comply with the law, “legitimate police requests” and refrain from violating the freedom of assembly, adding the law enforcement units would be prepared to “maintain law and order and security” in locations set to be used by organisers of the celebration.