Openly pro-Russian party registered in Georgia

Pro-Russian party in Georgia

The Conservative Movement Party, which is part of the pro-Russian aggressive homophobic group and the Alt-Info TV company, has been officially registered in Georgia.

The register’s website indicates that the decision was made on December 7. A few days ago, the register rejected the documents on the creation of the party, refused to register it, and gave 10 days to correct errors in the documents.

The chairman of the new party is Zurab Makharadze, the general secretary is Giorgi Kardava.

The founders of the Conservative Movement (Konstantin Morgoshia, Zurab Makharadze, Shota Martynenko, and others) were among the organizers of the July 5 riots.

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The new political party is mainly focused on Russia. In an interview with Radio Liberty, Konstantin Morgoshia, one of the party’s founders, stated that Georgia cannot move forward without having negotiations with Russia:

“As soon as we become a political party, we will start working with Russia, meet and talk directly, without the participation of third countries. We will speak at a level at which not a single politician has met even in the last 15-20 years”.

It is noteworthy that a frequent guest of programs on TV “Alt-Info” is the Russian anti-liberal, anti-globalist and nationalist-minded philosopher, ideologist, and propagandist Alexander Dugin.

The founders of the party claim that it is not a pro-Russian, but a “pro-Georgian” organization. At the same time, Zurab Makharadze openly declares that Russian military bases should be located in Georgia and by that, the issues of restoring territorial integrity will be resolved.

What happened on July 5

On July 5, 2021, the March of Dignity was to be held in Tbilisi within the framework of Tbilisi Pride Week. The march to the Rustaveli metro was scheduled for 18:00. However, the church soon announced the beginning of its own counter-rally, urging its supporters to take to the streets and defend the country from the “perverse lifestyle”.

On the morning of July 5, homophobic groups marched towards parliament. First, they smashed the opposition tents, which had been standing in front of the parliament building for months, and then attacked the journalists who came to cover the event. On July 5, a real hunt for journalists was going on in Tbilisi – 53 journalists of them were attacked.

According to experts, the actions of the criminals were provoked by a statement by Prime Minister Garibashvili on 5 July, who said that the organizers of the March of Dignity, not the participants of the violent rally, were responsible for escalating the tensions in the society.

According to journalists, an insufficient number of police officers were mobilized on the spot during the day. Members of the radical groups attacked cameraman Lekso Lashkarava and his colleague, TV Pirveli journalist Miranda Bagaturia in the office of the Shame organization.

According to Bagaturia, Lashkarava was beaten by 20 people. According to eyewitnesses, there were clergymen among the attackers. On July 11, Lashkarava’s mother found him dead in his own bed.

Soon after the young cameraman’s death, pro-government websites started to spread the information that Lashkarava was addicted to drugs and died of an overdose.

On the evening of the same day, July 11, a briefing was held at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, at which the department speculated that Lashkarava could have been “under the influence” during the time of his death. Journalists and civil society representatives do not believe in this version of his death.