LONDON, 15 JULY 2021 – In this episode of Trouble with the Truth the Georgian journalist Mariam Nikuradze recalls the shocking attacks on journalists in Tbilisi on 5 July. That day was supposed to be a celebration of Pride, but the organizers were forced to cancel the event because of numerous threats. Despite the cancellation, far-right mobs still turned out in force and targeted anyone who looked LGBTQ. It was journalists that suffered the most: over fifty media workers were attacked, many ending up in hospital. In a tragic turn of events, cameraman Aleksandre Lashkarava, who sustained serious injuries, died several days later. Following his death, thousands of people rallied on the streets demanding the resignation of government ministers. The investigation is ongoing…
The full transcript of the podcast is available below:
On 5th July, a day that was meant to be for the celebration of queerness and same-sex love turned into a battleground. The organizers of Tbilisi pride knew that holding such a symbolic event in a polarized country is prone to be controversial but the scale of violence on the streets was unprecedented. Far-right mobs swept the streets, looking for LGBT activists to beat up. The fact that pride was cancelled in anticipation of violence didn’t stop them- instead they turned their wrath on anyone who looked ‘gay’ according to them- including an unfortunate Polish tourist with an ear piercing. But the real victims on that day were journalists. According to the Justice for Journalists foundation data, over 50 journalists were attacked that day, many ending up in hospital with serious injuries. Media workers who were there to do their job were perceived as amoral, liberal defenders of “gay propaganda”, hence the reaction. I won’t delve into the complexities of Georgian identity politics, as fascinating as it is. What I wanted to know was what it was like covering those events in such a hostile and dangerous environment. I spoke with journalist Mariam Nikuradze of OC-media who was in Tbilisi on the day when attacks took place.
Lana: So how are you holding up? How are you feeling? I mean, it’s such a shocking turn of events.
Mariam: Yeah, I’m good. I’m glad that none of our team members, including me, were injured, so that’s the most important thing. And actually, many of my friends that I know really well, my colleagues are injured, some of them are still at the hospital with pretty serious injuries. Yeah, it’s crazy. I didn’t expect anything like that.
Lana: Let’s talk about the context quickly. So, it happened on 5th of July. And there was basically a far-right mob that was out there to attack LGBT activists and anyone participating in the pride. And since there was such a level of threat, the event was sort of cancelled last minute. And so that mob decided to take out their anger on journalists. Would you agree with that? Or is that a bit of a simplistic reading of events?
Mariam: It was a bit more complicated. So, it was a Pride Week, right? Pride had several events planned. It started with the film screening, which was held on Thursday, on 1st of July, in club Friday. So, location was secret, only media and people who are invited knew about that. Second event was music festival. Also, location for that was secret. And it was open area events. And the third one was, of course, Pride, which was announced quite a while ago, and everybody knew about it. So, for me, what’s interesting here is I attended all events except the festival. I didn’t have time to go there. But it went well, because the far right actually didn’t notice this happening. And they showed up really just randomly when they learned about it, so I was on Thursday’s event. I was sent on Monday, and then Tuesday, which was post that people gather to express solidarity with the queer community as well as journalists who are attacked, someone says they there was a heavy police presence. And they provide a very safe corridor for people who wanted to attend film screening. The far right group came, it wasn’t such a big crowd. A series was a lot of people, they were super angry, very violent. There are several occasions I got really scared of because they tried to break the police corridor, they were throwing stones, they were throwing eggs. But police was really effective, and they would immediately prevent any kind of violence that was coming from the other side. And they managed to protect all the people who are waiting are left without any major incidents. So, because having that in mind, we were thinking that Monday maybe could have happened. Still like with you know, we thought that police were doing a better job before the day of the Pride, we were thinking how to be secure, what security measures to take for ourselves how to cover this pride so that we don’t get any injuries whatsoever. We were thinking to increase our visibility as journalists to have more signs saying “press”, we have this helmet caps that protect from some sharp objects and have jackets which say “press”. We decided to not wear anything, I mean to dress conservatively, because I remember, I covered all the May 17[1] and all the, you know, career related events in the past 12 years and I remember there are cases when violent groups just beat up people who are dressed in colorful clothes. So, everything, you should think about everything. So, we told our team to dress conservatively but when the morning arrived as I said Pride was happening on 6pm but first reports of far right groups coming to the streets started from early morning, I think, 10am. I didn’t remember exactly when I went out to the parliament in the morning just to check what was the spirit.
Lana: Yeah, that’s what I was going to ask: how? What was the air like? What was the atmosphere? Were you worried?
Mariam: I was in the morning. I said no, because I was expecting something big in the evening. But in the morning, there was already some hundreds of people here and there. They were gathering on different locations, the major location for them was Metro Rustaveli. But a bigger chunk started together in front of the Parliament. So, this is what I went to the parliament. And I also met several of my colleagues, my friends, and they told me that, look, this is weird, but I feel like I’m a target, because I’m wearing this press T-shirt. And I also felt that people were looking angrily at journalists in the morning. And then very soon, I think, it was 11 or something, when the first reports came in about journalists being attacked. And it continued throughout entire day. So, it was since early morning, until probably even the evening, even after to the surprise consult. Even after that. I mean, they were celebrating and if journalists wanted to cover the celebrations, whatever, they were still aggressive to them. And the weird thing is when I look at these two events and police were so effective on the first day, there was, you could feel that, it was a nicely plant operation: how to protect people wanting to attend the pride event. But on Monday, there were the queer community was not even out there. There were just this far right groups. They were wandering in the streets, some rogues went to Tbilisi Pride office, they broken, they destroyed everything. Another group went to the Shame Movement office and they didn’t manage to break in, but they broke the entrance and they beat up some journalists there as well. They were planning to go to the UN Office in Tbilisi, so they had this kind of targets. And they were going around and throughout the entire city, but majority of them were mobilized in front of the Parliament, like nearby Rustaveli. And the whole day I spent going on the Rustaveli, or a parliament somewhere where the majority of the crowd was. And the weird thing was that the police wasn’t seen anywhere. I mean, they weren’t there. But most of the time they were in small groups in some corners just hanging out. And when the people would attack, some journalists, they would start beating them. It was horrible to observe. I don’t know – 50 people, 70 people just picking up one cameraman. Police would show up in the very last moment to just remove the journalists from this violent crowd and take them to the safe space. But for the entire day, there was no attempt whatsoever to somehow contain this angry crowd, to somehow separate them from… I don’t know how to say, like, you know, every time there is a big protest and the crowd is violent, police usually organizes these corridors or they bring the riot police right because it’s dangerous. They are, it’s not just the protest is already something else. They are breaking stuff. They are beating up people just come in a (It’s just becoming a riot, basically) and it was exactly. But riot police wasn’t seen anywhere. Even though Interior Minister yesterday said that they had riot police on Monday, but it’s I haven’t I’ve been out all day. I haven’t seen them. And it felt like police had this order not to intervene. I mean, I’m not claiming it felt like that. And it also felt like it was these people there. They were targeting journalists, targeting anyone who had a camera or press or something.
Lana: That’s something that I wanted to ask about. I mean, it might be quite a big question, but why was there such a hostility towards journalists, do you think?
Mariam: It’s hard to, you know, like claim something, but as I said, I felt like it was a punishment, because… Okay, we can talk that far right groups hate liberal media, because you know, they are critical towards the far right groups, and they don’t portray them well, in their media reports. Some people were remembering that, I mean, in 2013, when the biggest dispersal have happened on May 17, there were a lot of footage of the crowd being violent and doing horrible things attacking these passes, which evacuated queer people. So, there was this feeling also that they were trying to prevent journalist that picked whatever they were doing that day on Monday. But also, the thing is that there was no protest that this counter protesters were against on Monday, because the pride was planned on 6pm. The queer community wasn’t out there, it was just journalists covering the far right groups who were getting ready to prevent pride from conducting. And also, I don’t think it’s just the far right thing. Because as I said, I felt police was inactive because then again, when Tuesday came, it was the protest of people against violence, which included people from Tbilisi Pride and other queer rights groups or human rights groups. There were political parties there. And of course, the far right groups came that day too. There were too big protests against each other. But the police came, they separated the two crowds from each other. And whenever something small would start, like, violent actions, police would prevent it immediately. And they arrested a lot of people actually that day, I think, over 100. So, if it was possible for police to be so good on Thursday and 10, Tuesday, how come on Monday, they did nothing to protect journalists? And it’s big, right? Journalists are an important component of the democracy, right?
Lana: Especially in a democracy like Georgia, because it is a democracy. And, yeah, I’ve seen quite a few reports and suggestions that the orders came from above, you know, to stand by and, you know, to just kind of let it happen. What makes you think that the authorities were somehow complicit in these attacks?
Mariam: I don’t know actually, it’s hard to tell. I’m just trying to analyze whatever my experience was during these days. And, yeah, it felt like a targeted attack towards critical media, even though there were some journalists of non-critical media outlets who were the victims too. But then, as I said before, it felt like these people had some kind of instruction to attack everyone with camera, and I forgot to say that. We were thinking about these security measures before, right. We, in the end, decided to hide our press badges and everything that could indicate that we are press, but still, I had photo camera and in two occasions, there were two men from far right groups, whose who came to me and told me that if you come closer with that camera, we beat you up. So, they didn’t know what media outlet I was from, they just knew that I was a journalist or photographer or whatever. And they told me that they would beat me up. Yeah.
Lana: Just to add: amongst those 54 journalists were attacked 14 female journalists as well. And yes, it’s always very worrying because, obviously, while we’re equal in our field, we’re not always kind of physically able to protect ourselves, especially you know, from the angry mob.
Mariam: No, they didn’t care about that.
Lana: It didn’t discriminate on that day. Definitely.
Mariam: Because it happened. Also, the cameramen are usually men. These camera operators are men, so majority of the injured are camera operators, and then some photographers, and journalists too. Especially there were several media outlets who were most targeted, which were Mtavari, the biggest opposition TV channel, also Pirveli, again, opposition TV channel. And then several others media outlets, like Radio Liberty, which are hated for, you know, covering social issues, whatever this far right people hate them for. So, they were target, if they had some kind of science identifying them as journalists of Mtavari, they would be, you know, more under the danger.
Lana: And this incident that happened, is it something that you expected? Because it seems like you know, obviously, there were quite a few attacks against journalists in Georgia, although not as bad as maybe in some of the neighboring republics. But was it? Was it quite an outlier, just this level of violence?
Mariam: I wasn’t expecting anything like that, I didn’t think anyone was expecting that. So, like, a while ago, I think two or three months ago, there was a gathering by some very conservative activists/musicians, I don’t know how to characterize them. But they just gathered to celebrate their “Georgianness”, something in this period, and I was covering that. And that day, I could feel the crowd was really angry at journalists. The journalists, but all the reporters anyways, were trying to cover this protest. There were no violent attacks, but they were verbally insulting the journalists. And it was something new, because, as I said, I’ve been a journalist for 12 years. And usually, I’ve been injured on cajoling, covering protests, but it was because of various reasons like dispersals by the riot police. It’s in discriminatory, right this rubber ballots forever. And I’ve been hit by a stone from a crowd. Things like this happen. But it was not because I’m a journalist, but because it was just an island and I happened to be there. And never in my life I felt that I would be a target as a journalist, and it was the first time. I mean, this previous protest kind of felt already that there was some kind of anger growing towards journalists. And after that, this was the first time, actually, the entire protests was directed against journalists to just, you know, pick them up, and some were actually ready to murder them.
Lana: Does that make you worried about the future? Do you think you’ll have to look into security protocols? And maybe, you know, change some of the ways in which you report on the stories?
Mariam: Yeah, absolutely. Because now the most important thing is to punish those people. Actually, all of it is depicted on the videos and photos, there are a lot of evidence to just identify those responsible. And I think, the most important thing is now to properly punish these people according to the legislation, because otherwise, it will be encouraged, you know, punished, then they will do it again. I’m not thinking right now that «oh, my God, it’s over». And we’ll never be safe covering protests. But whenever there will be something, you know, big, which would involve this specific group of the protesters, then I think, yeah, we’ll have to take more security measures and rethink our strategy of how to cover our events like that. Yeah, usually, you think that that press part is something that protects you. It’s weird when it’s not like that.
Lana: And the mood like amongst your colleagues? Do you think there are some who are saying: «Okay, why the hell am I even doing this?». Or do you think it’s making them even more determined to tell the truth?
Mariam: I haven’t seen anyone quitting or saying anything like that. But most of my friends I know, most of the people I know, they work in online media outlets, and they are journalists because they believe in journalism they have, they believe in their values. And I think none of them are planning to quit. It’s not their job because of the job, but they love doing what they do, including me, or continue doing, whatever.
Lana: It’s very encouraging to hear. And finally, probably the most difficult question, but I think it just will reveal, whether, you know, you’re an optimist or a pessimist. Do you think there will be a day when there will be a proper Pride event in Tbilisi in any time in the future?
Mariam: Oh, no. Yes, of course I did. I believe so. But I’m not sure it will be anytime soon. But there are always some small improvements in Georgia, I think more than 80% of people are consuming the information from the TV channels. So, the most important source of information is TV, and TV, the way TV channels cover queer issues, it’s usually really, really bad, it’s very full of stereotypes. And they make them exotic somehow and make them stand out, as if they are not part of the society like others. But the recent events, I think it had some good impact in this way, because they invite more community members to talk about their problems, to give them more visibility, because usually, the problem is that media pays attention to the community only when something comes up or this pride week or once a year. But this will, I think, bring the discussion back on the table and the media will continue talking about these issues more and hopefully in a professional way, not like some yellow media style. And also, for the past, I don’t know, these 12 years, in my professional experience, when I was starting, it was very difficult to find respondents from the community who would agree to talk even anonymously, because they were afraid.
Mariam: But lately, I see it’s becoming easier to get people speak up, which is also nice. As for the Pride, I mean, I think there will be a lot of time to get there. I mean, to conduct it without at least heavy police presence. I mean, honestly, I think on Monday, if the police would be effective, like they were before, I think maybe there was a chance to still conduct it, maybe for a short period of time, but like a small March would have been possible. But maybe I’m optimistic, I don’t know.
Since recording this podcast, there has been some tragic developments. Cameraman Alexander Lashkarava from Pirveli TV, who was severely beaten on 5 July, has been found dead in his apartment. He was 37 years old. More details from the investigation will follow soon…