The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are mobilized in connection with the events and protest rallies announced within the framework of the "Tbilisi Pride" week and protect public order, as well as the freedom of assembly and expression of each citizen.
Today, on July 2, the anti-manifestation of Pride is planned to be held in vicinities of the Parliament building in Tbilisi, and at the same time, the final, closed event of the Pride Week will be held in one of the isolated spaces.
In order to conduct the closed events planned within the frames of the Pride Week in a safe environment, the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia continue communication with the event organizers, and implement preventive measures to ensure the protection of freedom of expression.
The officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be mobilized and protect public safety at all venues of gathering planned within the frames of Pride week, based on security measures and in order to avoid artificial escalation of events.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs calls on the media representatives to be in coordination with the employees of the Strategic Communications Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs when covering the events and in case of necessity, and to follow the instructions of the law enforcement officers based on security measures.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia condemns violence of any kind and calls on the groups opposing “Pride Week” to adhere to the law, follow the rightful demands of the police, and not to exceed the limits of the right to assembly and manifestation permitted by law. If otherwise, the police will act in accordance with its mandate, each case of violation will be immediately foiled and followed by the strict legal response.
On July 1 of the current year, the opponents of Tbilisi Pride gathered and paralyzed the access routes leading to the festival site, artificially obstructing traffic. As a result of the mentioned, the law enforcement officers called on rally participants on the site to clear the roadway. The police also instructed them to continue the protest in a place where they would not interfere and violate the rights of other citizens. Late at night, despite the warning of the Ministry, participants of the gathering did not obey the legal request of the police and offered resistance to the police officers. Therefore, the police applied proportional force in accordance with the law and arrested 26 people based on Articles 173 and 166 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.
