Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Channel cameraman Ilia Tvaliashvili was injured during an anti-Pride rally in downtown Tbilisi on Monday.
Members of the ultranationalist groups are rallying on Rustaveli avenue hours before the Tbilisi Pride march. The rally participants aggressively thwart reporters to do their work. They also hurl bottles and sticks at them, Georgian Public Broadcaster reported from the scene.
The anti-Pride rally participants gathered at Kashveti Church on Rustaveli Avenue to attend prayer service announced by the Patriarchate “after the parishioners’ plea.”
The Georgian Patriarchate echoed the Tbilisi Pride Week on June 29 and has urged the population to gather at Kashveti Church and show the world that any attempt to degenerate Georgian people is utterly unacceptable.
The police officers in standoff block the territory via a human chain, aiming to avoid a clash between opposing sides.
