Page 11 - GEORptSep21

Georgia media launches protests after government inaction over violence
Nikolaishvili, Sakhelashvili’s lawyer, said the judge “could not dare” to establish the innocence of the defendant amid the “fuss” over the case.
Georgian media have launched a series of protests against the government following the death of a cameraman amid waves of far-right attacks.
Four independent TV stations in Georgia on July 14 suspended broadcasts for 24 hours as part of a wave of media protests against attacks on journalists by far-right mobs.
More than 50 journalists were beaten, some with sticks, while covering a protest against a Tbilisi Pride parade. Ultraconservative politicians and priests urged on supporters who raided the offices of pro-LGBTQ+ groups. The violence ahead of the Pride event led organisers to cancel the parade.
The attacks have focused attention on Georgia’s powerful ultraconservative forces, which have shown they are ready to use violence to support nativist, intolerant policies and are seen as a potential spoiler in Georgia’s plans to forge closer ties with the EU.
Following the attacks, the prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, indicated that the pride parade organisers were at fault for the violence, calling plans to hold the event “provocative and impermissible”.
In response, journalists held protests and called for Garibashvili’s resignation, calling him a homophobe and saying that his government has failed to hold an effective investigation.
The US and 17 other countries issued a joint statement on July 5 condemning the Georgian government's role in encouraging and failing to halt far-right violence.
2.7 Polls & Sociology
Georgia may be most homophobic country in Europe data suggests
On July 5, a homophobic riot took place in Tbilisi. While the riot was a tragedy, it also reflected the contention, as explored by OC Media's Datablog, that Georgia is the most homophobic European country, a conclusion for which data is available from the International Social Survey programme (ISSP) survey.
Given the participation of priests in the riot, one might expect more religious people to be more homophobic. However, the data suggests that homophobia is prevalent throughout Georgian society and how important religion is in someone’s life is not correlated with homophobic attitudes.
The ISSP survey asked respondents in 33 countries, mainly in Europe, whether sexual relations between two adults of the same sex were always wrong. In Georgia, 84% said they were always wrong, compared with an average of only 37% among all the surveyed countries.
The second most homophobic country in the survey results was Turkey, with 80% of the public there reporting that same-sex sexual relations were always wrong. By comparison, only 69% of Russians said the same. In Hungary, which the European Union is currently suing for passing homophobic legislation, roughly half as many (45%) people said they were always wrong.
11 GEORGIA Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com