Angriff auf Tiflis Pride 2021

Events preceding the protests

On May 16, a day ahead of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, 15 political parties, including the United National Movement, the largest opposition party, signed the agreement ″to fight to eliminate discrimination and violence against LGBTQ citizens with all mechanisms at their disposal″ with Tbilisi Pride, NGO uniting LGBT rights activists. The Tbilisi Pride described it as a ″historical agreement in Georgia on LGBTQI rights.″

On June 16 Tbilisi Pride announced ″Pride Week″ to take place during 1-5 July, consisting of three main events: Public screening of the March for Dignity - British documentary film, featuring events around the first Tbilisi Pride, an open-air Pride Fest and March for Dignity on July 5 as the conclusive event for the pride week. The Tbilisi Pride activists said that during the events they will demand ″the implementation of a human-oriented policy by the government, fulfilment of all international obligations to ensure the environment free from homophobia and discrimination, to investigate hate crimes and ensure the safety and freedom of expression of each citizen of the country″.

On June 17 the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze said that "considering the current situation in the country and the context", holding the Pride events is "unreasonable". He also added that it is his own personal view. On June 15 conservative political figure Levan Vasadze, who founded the public movement ERI, urged government to cancel the Pride events to ″prevent destabilisation″. He stated that Tbilisi Pride events and march on Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi on July 5 will not take place anyway because people will gather there and will not allow the ″anti-Christian and anti-Georgian″ activities. The Tbilisi Pride said that ″it is the government to blame that Vasadze continues to make such homophobic statements″.

On June 29 Georgian Orthodox Church has issued statement calling members of European Parliament working group on LGBTQ issues, and embassy heads in Georgia “to refrain from supporting and encouraging Tbilisi Pride”. The GOC has also urged the Georgian government to prevent “the destabilization of the country and of public life”. It said that Tbilisi Pride ″propagates non-traditional way of life under disguise of human rights″ and that Church deems "hatred and violence directed at anyone unacceptable, but also denounces pride of sin and attempt to influence other people". According to statement, activities of the Tbilisi Pride discredit Western values in Georgia, and it is necessary to confirm that European democracy doesn't goes against the way of life and religious feelings of majority of the population.

On July 1 the first from 3 events planned in the framework of "Pride Week" took place. The screening of the movie featuring events around the first Tbilisi Pride attracted the large number of protesters, but no violence took place.

On July 4, a day before the March for Dignity, the chairman of Georgian March Irakli Shikhiashvili visited office of Tbilisi Pride to hand over a letter, but the door of the office was closed. Shikhiashvili announced willingness to discuss in civil form why Pride shouldn't be held. He also encouraged the ambassadors that "they should not provoke or support a march, which majority of Georgian traditional society opposes, because it will cause negative attitude".

The political commentators of the media outlet Alt-Info have stated that they will oppose holding the Pride march in the streets of Tbilisi by any means necessary.

The Georgian government, having declined to issue unequivocal guarantee to uphold Freedom of expression and Freedom of assembly, which are protected by of the Georgian constitution (the articles 17 and 21 respectively), caused international concern in the days leading up to the planned March for Dignity. For that reason, embassies of the European Union, United Kingdom and United States, among others, urged the government to keep the activists safe and enable them to carry out the pride week as planned. In an open letter, 28 members of the European Parliament called upon Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Minister of Internal Affairs (MIA) to protect the constitutionally protected freedoms and rights of the activists. Members of the ruling Party, Georgian Dream, repeatedly urged the activists to abstain from holding the March for Dignity, claiming it would be provocative and would lead to disorder. In a televised address, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili blamed the radical opposition and the ex-president in exile, Mikheil Saakashvili, for organizing the March in order to destabilize the country and cause chaos. He again urged the activists to either choose one of the alternative locations suggested by the MIA , or not to go forward with the plan at all, calling it unreasonable. Gharibashvili warned that it would provoke negative reactions from a large segment of the Georgian population. On the other hand, the MIA issued an official statement, saying that they regarded holding the March in a public space as too risky and asked them to refrain from it, or cancel the event altogether. The totally unfounded accusation that the activists were egged on by the opposition was later reasserted and repeated by the chairman of Georgian Dream and the former Speaker of Georgian Parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze. These statements were decried by the activists as emboldening the counter-protesters, who were already filling the main avenues of Tbilisi.

Developments during the day

The March for Dignity was announced by the local LGBTQ+ organization Tbilisi Pride as the conclusive event for the pride week. As previous events were also held in secret locations and under police protection, the organizers were keeping the details of the March under wraps for the safety of the participants.

The counter-protesters gathered before the Georgian Parliament. The leaders of the counter-demonstration gave speech in front of the public. The protesters tore down the EU Flag, with Zurab Makharadze, political commentator of Alt-info, announcing that ″the flag which was tore down will remain down until ambassadors come here and apologize for supporting pederasty″. Radical group of protesters proceeded to destroy the tents erected by the opposition political parties against the sitting government in the preceding months because those parties signed agreement on LGBT rights with Tbilisi Pride. One of the participants, archpriest Spiridon Tskipurishvili claimed that the demonstrants were obliged to do violence for the sake of the homeland, causing near-universal condemnation. Police forces were present in all the areas, but they interfered only minimally and neither prevented the injuries nor forcefully pushed back the protesters, except when protecting the UN representation building in Georgia.

Before the organizers were able to go forward with the March as planned, violent homophobic groups filled the strets of Tbilisi, injured around 50 journalists reporting the events live, some of them critically. One of the rioters tried to run the journalists over with a moped. The rioters also intentionally damaged the equipment or otherwise prevented the journalists from broadcasting the events. One of the journalists, TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava was found dead at his home a few days later. Lashkarava sustained serious injuries to the head, including fractured facial bones and heavy bruising. However, as of 11 July 2021, forensic examination is still ongoing about the exact reasons for his death. The rioters engaging in direct violence included some Orthodox priests. Vorlage:Citation needed A media reported that 49-year-old male Polish tourist was stabbed multiple times in the chest supposedly on the grounds of homophobia and moved to the hospital in critical condition, which caused public outrage. However, MIA and prosecutor did not confirm these claims, stating that an attacker was mentally ill and stabbed a foreign citizen without a motive. After having attempted to raid the office of Shame Movement, the rioters successfully raided the headquarters of Tbilisi Pride by scaling the walls to their office. The Police stood by but did not interfere as they proceeded to rip up and burn the Rainbow Flag adorning the balcony. They also thoroughly ransacked and vandalized the rest of the office. Tamaz Sozashvili, one of the co-founders of Tbilisi Pride, expressed his extreme shock upon seeing the vandalized office. Vorlage:Tweet Out of safety concerns for the potential participants and themselves, these events, coupled with the apparent unwillingness of the police forces to fully protect them, forced the organizers to cancel the March. According to one of the co-founders of Tbilisi Pride, Giorgi Tabagari, the organizers had to change locations, narrowly escaping death because of compromised locations. Vorlage:Tweet

Reactions

Datei:Georgians protesting against homophobia in downtown Tbilisi.jpg

Georgians protesting against homophobia in front of parliament

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili condemnd the violence in unequivocal terms and visited the injured journalists at the hospital, expressing her solidarity. Georgian civil society organizations, such as The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), and Transparency International Georgia, condemned the riots and placed the responsibility squarely on the government's shoulders for the utter failure in preventing civil unrest. International partners of Georgia and the human rights organizations worldwide expressed shock and dismay at the events, regretting that the government failed in its most basic task to uphold the constitutionally protected fundamental freedoms. Denis Krivosheev, a representative Amnesty International commented that "Instead of planning for this turn of events and providing a robust response to violence, the government deployed inadequately small numbers of policemen who were only reacting to violent attacks, rather than providing an organized protection for LGBTI activists". Embassies of Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, the European Union Monitoring Mission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, UN representation in Georgia, the United States and the EU Delegation in Georgia condemned attacks on the civic activists, community members and journalists, as well as the failure of the government leaders and officials to condemn this violence. Christophe Lacroix, the rapporteur Council of Europe’s LGBT rights, condemned the violence targeting journalists and activists alike, as well as the office of Tbilisi Pride and expressed solidarity with the courageous organizers and journalists. He further noted that the "indiscriminate and unchecked violence" put the Georgian democracy in danger. Some have attributed the inadequate law enforcement measures and general idleness to the government's uneasy relations with the media, claiming that the violence against journalists happened with their tacit consent. The mob started celebrating the news directly after the news of cancellation was announced. The Patriarchate of Georgia, despite numerous rousing speechees and homophobic sermons by the orthodox clergy, wholly denied responsibility and instead blamed the organizers of the March for Dignity for provoking protests.

Protest response

Following a day of outrage over July 5 anti-LGBT violence, thousands of Georgians gathered to protest homophobia in front of the Georgian Parliament, where they unfurled the Rainbow Flag as participants cheered and sang the Georgian national anthem. By the late evening, however, as the protesters dispersed, the extremist groups broke through the police lines, reclaiming the scene. The radical right group affiliated with pro-Russian ultraconservative businessman Levan Vasadze proceeded to once again tear down and burn the European flag. A day later, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament visited the location and personally raised the European flag on the building once again, stating that its removal was unacceptable. After the passing away of Lekso Laskharava, a new protest was announced on July 11, demanding that the Prime Minister Gharibashvili and his government take responsibility for the events and resign. During the demonstration, prominent news anchors and representatives of the media delivered scathing speeches excoriating the PM Gharibashvili and his government, as well the Patriarchate of Georgia for aiding and abetting violence. The protesters delivered an ultimatum to the government to resign, or face permanent protests, claiming they would not rest until those responsible were removed from power. According to them, unlike politicians who would sit down and compromise, they would not, because they were striving after justice and a better future for Georgia, not seeking political power themselves. The leaders of various media sources expressed utmost anger that the government made the media an enemy and that they would suffer the concequences by being shown the true power of the media. A longtime journalist Vakho Sanaia promised the government that "we will defeat you. No one could win the war against journalists in this country, and we will win this war too". Veteran Georgian journalist Inga Grigolia delivered a fiery speech, giving voice to her disgust with the Ministry of Internal affairs that she called shameless, after they made shocking insinuations that the dead journalist had recently visited the district of Tbilisi known for its drug trade. The protest leaders also supported their condolences to the family of the deceased and underlined his bravery protecting his collegue, saying he set an example for all others to follow and that his death would not be in vain Civil society organizations also joined the demand of the Georgian media representatives that the government should immediately resign. The signatories included the following prominent NGOs: Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), Governance Monitoring Center (GMC), Sapari Society and Banks, Media Development Fund, (MDF) Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS), The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), Human Rights Center (HRC), Social Justice Center, Atlantic Council of Georgia, Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia), International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Center for Research Journalism and Economic Analytics, UN Association of Georgia (UNAG), Green Alternative, Tbilisi Pride, Democracy Research Institute (DRI), The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Center EMPATHY, Free Russia Foundation in South, Europe Foundation, Open Society Georgia Foundation, and Rondeli Foundation. On july 12, PM Gharibashvili falsely accused the demonstrators that they demanded that the (old and frail) Patriarch be jailed. He accused the protesters of being anti-state, anti-church and anti-national. He accused the opposition of planning a violent overthrow of government by force. The PM also stated that 95% of the Georgian population opposes the "propaganda parade" and that he was obliged to obey them.

Arrests

In total, the government arrested 102 people for participating in these riots in a variety of forms; 68 of these were released on parole, with the rest being left in custody, and the government continued to make additional arrests. On 9 July 2021, Tbilisi City Court denied bail and ordered pre-trial detention of 4 additional members of the violent group. During the preliminary hearing, the judge determined that the actions of these violent activists "in addition to being criminal, undermine the stability of the state. They are dark and shameful..."

See also

• LGBT rights in Georgia
• 2013 Tbilisi anti-homophobia rally protests