Journalists today staged a demarche in the government administration during a briefing after the meeting of the interdepartmental coordination council, which is shown live.
Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabnia was the first to address the rostrum after the meeting to comment to the press. However, immediately after the greeting, she was interrupted by a journalist from the opposition TV channel Formula Georgy Kikabidze.
“Today our colleague Lexo Lashkarava is being buried and I believe that no one has a moral right to stand in this rostrum. I ask my colleagues to come here and express their protest, “the journalist said.
After that, journalists and cameramen stood in front of the rostrum with photos of the deceased cameraman and once again called on the Prime Minister to resign.
“Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili must resign because he is the number one homophobe in the country and the prime minister is a rapist. He must resign immediately. In addition, of course, the guilty must be punished, “said a journalist from the Formula TV channel.
The funeral of Pirveli TV operator Lexo Lashkarava will take place today, July 13. Removal of the body at 15:00 on Ioseliani Street №37.
Lashkarava, 37, died at home six days after being brutally beaten by radical homophobic groups during the Tbilisi riots. The operator received fractures of the facial bones and concussion, underwent surgery and spent several days in hospital.
Pirveli journalist Miranda Bagaturi, who was filming a report with Lashkarov and was attacked near the office of Sirchvilia public activists, said that about 20 people had been kicked and “left lying in a pool of blood.”
The death of the cameraman brought thousands of people to the streets of Tbilisi and major cities of the country. Media representatives at a rally near the parliament on Rustaveli Avenue demanded the resignation of the government led by the Prime Minister. In addition, the rallies called for the prosecution of those clergymen who participated in the organization of violence against journalists.