Page 11 - GEORptAug21

2.6 Georgia media launches protests after government inaction over violence
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 last week, 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.
Alexander Lashkarava was working as a cameraman for the independent television station Pirveli during last week’s counter-protest when he was targeted and beaten by the angry mob, sustaining a concussion and broken bones in his face. Less than a week later, his mother found him dead at home. While the circumstances of Lashkarava’s death remain unclear, he had complained of severe pain following the attack and had undergone surgery to repair bones in his face.
An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of Lashkarava’s death, but during a press conference, a Georgian interior ministry official suggested he may have died of a drug overdose. The statement was seen as an attempt to discredit Lashkarava.
On July 13, Lashkarava’s body was carried in an open casket to a Tbilisi cemetery, as hundreds of mourners walked alongside the pallbearers. Dozens of cameramen and women stopped to applaud as his body was carried through the streets.
On the same day, journalists interrupted a government news conference and demanded Garibashvili’s resignation, calling him a “homophobe”.
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.
11 GEORGIA Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com