Extremists: “We Decide What Rights the Foreign Agents Have”
Extremist conservative movement (Alt-Info) took responsibility for preventing yesterday’s public appearance of the scholar in Kvareli, Kakheti region, saying “from now on, we would decide what rights the foreign agents on the Western payroll have.”
Levan Berdzenishviii, the scholar of the history of literature, was supposed to speak to youth at the EuroClub Kvareli about European aspirations in 19th-century Georgian literature.
His car was prevented from passing by a mob of around 20 people shouting insults. Berdzenishvili said the police stood by and took no measures to remove the blockage.
EuroClub Kvareli declared its willingness to work with law enforcement today and asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to launch an investigation into the matter of interference with the club’s activities. The club said that “aggressive groups gathered in a coordinated fashion blocked all the roads leading to our space and did not permit the invited speaker to reach the site,” adding that guests of the lecture were also prevented from entering.
In the summer of 2022, Levan Berdzenishvili’s controversial remarks about Erekle II, the 18th-century king of the East Georgian Kartli-Kakheti Kingdom drew anger from Georgia’s ultraconservative groups and the Orthodox Christian right, among others. Subsequently, his brother, Davit Berdzenishvili, an opposition politician alongside fellow party member, MP Khatuna Samnidze faced an attack and harassment in downtown Tbilisi on June 6, 2022.
The Conservative Movement is a far-right pro-Russian party, an offspring of Alt-Info TV channel. The group spearheaded the July 5 homophobic pogroms when far-right groups came out en-masse against a planned LGBTQ+ pride parade and assaulted over 50 journalists. No organizers of the attacks have been brought to justice.
The authorities have not responded to the incident. Civil. ge contacted the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the article will be updated!
Also Read:
- 06/07/2022 – President Slams Gov’t Inaction Over Russia-friendly Far-right
- 05/07/2022 – Public Defender Argues for Banning Far-Right, Pro-Russia Party
- 07/06/2022 – Kobakhidze Says Assaulted Opposition Politician a ‘Bolshevik’
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
