Several media companies lay down their cameras and microphones outside the State Chancellery in Tbilisi to protest the death of Pirveli TV cameraman Aleksandre Lashkarava © Onnik James Krikorian 2021
As if the situation following attempts to hold a Pride Week in Tbilisi couldn’t get any worse, yesterday they did when news surfaced that a TV cameraman that was attacked by a far-right mob had died. While the government denies that Aleksandre Lashkarava’s death was due to his injuries, instead implying that he instead died from an overdose, many instead link it to the failure of the government to protect both the LGBT-rights organisation Tbilisi Pride and journalists attempting to cover their 1-5 July Pride Week.
International criticism of the government’s handling of events on the 5th July, and especially by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, has been severe and there are also calls for him to resign. Rather than do that, however, Garibashvili has instead added fuel to the fire by making incendiary statements about both Tbilisi Pride and groups such as the Shame Movement, one of the groups protesting against the recent violence.
The ultra-conservative populist Levan Vasadze, widely seen as being being instrumental in organising the violence, accused US Ambassador Kelly Degnan of being responsible for Lashkarava’s death while in response she implied that the Georgian businessman was directly or indirectly linked to Russia. Many consider that both Vasadze’s and Garibashvili’s words could be taken as further incitement to more violence from far-right and other groups.
Media, activists, and citizens yesterday rallied outside parliament to protest the violence that left dozens of journalists injured and possibly one dead. Some photos below.
