17 Individuals Arrested at Anti-Pride Rally in Tbilisi

By Khatia Bzhalava

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

The rally participants claimed that they did not trust the Tbilisi Pride organizers, who pledged not to hold a parade at the central avenue, and gathered to ‘protect the territory’.

This year, LGBT+ rights group Tbilisi Pride was organized without a public March for Dignity due to safety concerns.

On July 2, police arrested 17 participants of a right-wing rally against the Tbilisi Pride Week on the territory of Mtatsminda district in Tbilisi. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), all 17 persons were arrested under Article 173 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia, which pertains to disobedience to the lawful order or request of the police.

As Interpressnews reported, members of the Conservative Movement and other participants of the rally had gathered in anticipation of the planned event in the early hours of Saturday. The rally participants claimed that they did not trust the Tbilisi Pride organizers, who pledged not to hold a parade at the central avenue, and gathered to ‘protect the territory’.

This year, LGBT+ rights group Tbilisi Pride was organized without a public March for Dignity due to safety concerns in the face of “government-encouraged violent groups”. Instead, The Pride Week consisted of three primary events in closed venues - the screening of a new Georgian movie about “homophobia, fight, and survival,” a regional conference that brought together LGBTQ activists from Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Belarus, as well as a “Grand Pride Festival” which brought together local and international artists. In the run-up to this year’s event, the Interior Ministry had said it would ensure the safety and freedom of expression and assembly of each individual.

Earlier on Saturday 26 more participants of the right-wing rally were arrested near the location of a closed event for Pride Week. Among the arrested individuals are Zurab Makharadze and Irakli Martinenko, two leaders of the Alt-Info right-wing media platform that had announced planned action against Pride Week. Alt-Info was involved in last year’s attack on reporters ahead of planned Tbilisi Pride events in Tbilisi, which eventually had to be canceled as dozens of reporters were left injured at the violent anti-Tbilisi Pride rally.

On Saturday an incident took place near the parliament building as one of the protesters tried to burn himself. However, the police diffused the tension and the injured person was taken to a hospital. The rally participants also burned Tbilisi Pride and European Union flags.