Six MEPs from the LGBTI Intergroup are calling for sanctions to be placed on “Alt-Info” and “Conservative Movement” founder Konstantine Morgoshia.
The LGBTI Intergroup is the LGBTI rights group, the largest intergroup association in the European Parliament, comprising 157 MEPs from almost all political groups in the European Parliament.
The co-chairs and vice-presidents of the group are writing to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von Ver Leyen, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Pavel Herczynski, and the European Commissioner for Equality, Elena Daly. They express concern over the disruption of the July 8 Pride festival closed event and say that in a country that wants to be a member of the European Union, fundamental human rights must be protected. The letter states that the Georgian authorities must ensure the freedom of assembly and expression of all citizens and is concerned about the growing homophobic rhetoric.
“We urge you to take all necessary steps to condemn homophobic attacks in the strongest possible terms…We strongly support the imposition of targeted sanctions against the group Alt-Info and the oligarch behind the group, Konstantine Morgoshia,” the letter reads.
The appeal is signed by:
Mark Angel, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Kim Van Sparentak
Maria Volsh
Pierre Kaleskind
Malin Bjork
Fabio Massimo Castaldo
The Pride festival planned for July 8, which was supposed to be held in a closed space, near Tbilisi, in the territory of “Lisi Wonderland”, failed. Despite the fact that the police and special forces were mobilized on the spot, the violent groups, who gathered at the Vazha-Pshavela monument, were given the opportunity to reach the area hosting the festival. Due to this, the organizers and participants of the festival had to be evacuated by minibus. After breaking into the Pride festival area and destroying the infrastructure, the violent groups stole and drank alcohol and soft drinks prepared for the event, and then prayed. The police were there, and did not react properly. The organizers of the Pride festival, who were evacuated from the area by minibus, believe that the attack on LGBTQ+ activists was a joint operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and “Alt-Info”.
As the organizers previously said, the reason for the closed event was that on July 5, 2021, when “Tbilisi Pride” was planning a march, the police failed to ensure the safety of activists and journalists, as a result of which mobs attacked dozens of media representatives. “Alt-Info” was one of the organizers of the violent gathering.
This year, the organizers noted that they had guarantees of protection for the closed event from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
