Tag Archives: IDAHO

On May 18, Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia reported to the Parliament at the request of the European Georgia minority group, focusing on May 13 drug raids on Tbilisi’s top music clubs, as well as on reforms planned in the Ministry. In his 40-minute statement Minister Gakharia stressed the necessity of …

A group of approximately 250 gay rights activists and their sympathizers, holding rainbow flags and posters with messages against homophobic violence, gathered outside the Government administration in Tbilisi to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The demonstrators assembled in the area at 7 pm today in their …

Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, the Georgian Patriarch’s locum tenens, joined the Family Purity Day celebrations in Tbilisi today, and spoke against the promotion of “anti-family values.” The locum tenens addressed the parish at the Kashueti Church on Rustaveli Avenue, where thousands had gathered from early morning to mark the Family Purity Day, which …

Two parallel rallies are scheduled to take place in Tbilisi on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), – a symbolic date for both the Georgian Orthodox Church and the gay rights organizations and activists. The Orthodox parish, led by senior clerics, will gather at several locations …

A group of approximately 200 gay rights activists and supporters, holding rainbow flags and posters with messages against homophobic violence, gathered outside the Government building in Tbilisi on May 17 to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. “Even though number of positive legislative amendments have been passed in …

In a statement released on the eve of planned anti-gay rally by Orthodox and conservative groups in Tbilisi center, the Georgian Orthodox Church reiterated on May 16 its condemnation of what it calls “unnatural, pervert relations” and called on the participants of the planned demonstration to march peacefully, saying that …

Head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, said Georgia should mark the “day of strength of family and respect for parents” every year on May 17 – the date when the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is marked. Last year an attempted anti-homophobia rally to mark May …

Judge of the Tbilisi City Court ordered to drop criminal charges, related to disruption of the May 17 anti-homophobia rally, against an Orthodox priest, citing absence of cumulative evidence in the case. Archimandrite at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Antimoz (Tamaz) Bichinashvili, as well as another Orthodox priest Iotam (Irakli) Basilaia …

Criminal charges were filed against two men in connection to homophobic violence in downtown Tbilisi on May 17, according to the Interior Ministry. It said on May 24 that two individuals were charged with “encroachment of right to assembly and manifestation”. The same charges were filed against two Orthodox priests …

Anti-gay protesters, led by Orthodox priests, push their way through police cordons as they move towards the Freedom Square to thwart a rally marking the International Day Against Homophobia. Photo: Guram Muradov/Civil.ge Criminal charges have been filed against two clerics of the Georgian Orthodox Church in connection to the May …

Head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, said on Wednesday that priests behaved “impolitely” during the developments on May 17 in downtown Tbilisi when Orthodox clergy-led crowd disrupted attempted anti-homophobia rally. “What happened on May 17 is very regrettable,” Patriarch Ilia II said in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in …

Three days after its launch on May 19 an online petition, calling for prosecution of perpetrators and instigators of the May 17 violence that disrupted an attempted rally to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, attracted over 12,200 signatures – the number, which keeps rising, is significant for Georgia, especially …

PM Bidzina Ivanishvili reiterated on Tuesday that the authorities would bring to justice those “who were calling for violence and those resorting to violence” in the May 17 developments, when a large group of Orthodox clergy-led people confronted a small group of gay activists, who were intending to mark the …

Three young men and a 16-year-old boy, arrested on Sunday in connection to the May 17 violence in downtown Tbilisi, were fined by the court with GEL 100 each and released after they were found guilty of petty hooliganism. The four persons were charged by the police with petty hooliganism …

The U.S. Department of State said it “condemns” the May 17 violence against an attempted anti-homophobia rally in downtown Tbilisi, saying that “such acts of intolerance have no place in democratic societies.” “The United States places great importance on the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all …

Four men have been arrested for petty hooliganism and disobeying police during the May 17 violence in downtown Tbilisi when an attempted anti-homophobia rally was disrupted by a violent crowd, the Interior Ministry said shortly after midnight on Tuesday. The charges fall under the code of administrative offenses and carry …

PM Ivanishvili addresses police forces outside the Interior Ministry during an event marking the Police Day on May 19. Photo: PM’s office PM Bidzina Ivanishvili praised police for, as he put it, “well-coordinated” actions during violence in downtown Tbilisi on May 17, when a small group of activists, planning to …