20 July 2021, 14:18
Batumi rally demands to punish attackers on journalists
On July 19, a protest rally was held in front of the Sheraton Hotel in Batumi; the participants called on the President of the European Union Charles Michel to take action against Georgian authorities, whom they believe responsible for the violence during the July 5 rally.
"More than a hundred people came – civil society activists. There were also members of various oppositional parties, but human rights defenders and journalists made the majority. This was not a protest against the European Union (RU). On the contrary, we asked the EU to take action against those government officials who condoned violence against journalists on July 5," Khatuna Beridze, a participant of the action, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
On July 5, during the riots at the protests against the gay parade in Tbilisi, according to journalists' estimates, 53 media professionals were beaten up. The General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) recognized 41 people as victims, including 35 journalists. A total of 24 people were accused of group violence. The journalistic community declared inefficiency of investigation and demanded resignation of the government.
"We demand to punish all those who used violence on July 5. This is the government of the 'Georgian Dream'. It encouraged violence; and thereby pushed us away from further European integration. This categorically mismatches the aspirations of the Georgian people, since Georgia has already expressed its opinion that our place is in Europe," Mirtad Kamadadze, a representative of the United National Movement (UNM), stated at the rally in Batumi.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 20, 2021 at 07:40 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Beslan Kmuzov, Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondents
