Police in Georgia, Russia have arrested
four men in connection with a demonstration against a Gay Pride march
which turned violent.
An estimated 20,000 people led by
priests in black robes attacked a group of 50 gay rights
demonstrators in downtown Tbilsi on Friday, sending 14 people to the
hospital.
The throng of counter-demonstrators
broke through police cordons and began hurling eggs and rocks at the
marchers. Several priests brazenly attacked one of the several
minibuses attempting to carry demonstrators to safety. In images
captured by local television, one priest is seen repeatedly smashing
the vehicle's windshield with a stool. Another attempts to drag a
driver out of the bus. Several of the priests involved spoke
on-camera with the media.
In his Sunday sermon, Bishop Iakob
Iakobashvili, who helped organize the counter-demonstration, said
that while the perpetrators of the violence should be punished, the
Georgia Orthodox Church could not idly stand and allow the activists
“to humiliate us.”
The Georgia Interior ministry announced
the arrests on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
The men face charges of hooliganism and
disobeying police orders and could be jailed for up to 90 days or
fined.
In
a video posted online, police are seen escorting the suspects
into custody. None of the men were identified as a member of the
clergy.