Public Defender calls on Interior Ministry to respond “appropriately” to all law violations during Tbilisi Pride Week counter-protest

Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani on Saturday called on the country’s Interior Ministry to respond “timely and appropriately” to all violations of law during the counter-protest of the Tbilisi Pride Week in the Georgian capital on Saturday.

Ioseliani also urged the Ministry to ensure the protection of freedom of speech and expression and assembly “of all citizens, most importantly, in a safe environment”, citing that these rights were protected by the Georgian Constitution.

Of course, the responsibility for ensuring the protection of any right provided for by the national legislation rests with the state. Despite the prior agreement that the Interior Ministry would ensure the safe conduct of the event and implement all preventive measures, the final event failed”, he added.

The Tbilisi Pride Week festival was cancelled amid the counter-protest. Clashes between the police and participants of the right-wing rally began after the latter tried to enter the closed area designated for the Pride festival.

Organisers and participants of the festival were evacuated from the territory, with Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze on Saturday saying that police officers had “ensured their safe evacuation”.

Photo via Radio Liberty

Darakhvelidze emphasised 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.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili later yesterday 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, noting “in cases of aggression, as far as I know, the police officers intervened everywhere”.

In her turn, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili criticised the Interior Ministry for “not being able to prevent violence” during the festival and noted two constitutional rights - freedom of expression and freedom of assembly - were violated in the country.

The European Union Delegation to Georgia and the United Nations Delegation to the country, as well as some of the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia, condemned the violence against Tbilisi Pride participants and said it was “disappointing to see that [their] security and freedom of assembly could not be ensured”, urging Georgian authorities “to denounce” the incident and “hold those responsible accountable”.

Tbilisi Open Air group later on Saturday announced that their property and the territory Lisi Wonderland, designated to host the Pride festival this year, was damaged by the participants of the anti-LGBT rally and they “demanded” compensation for it from the Georgian authorities.