Protestors to Gather at Rustavi 2 TV Building Today

Part of the citizens plans to gather in front of the Rustavi 2 TV building today at 20:00, to protest offensive speech of one of the journalists of the Rustavi 2 TV channel Giorgi Gabunia directed towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the protestors, the rally under the slogans "We want stability", and "Let's protest the provocation of Rustavi 2” will last until 23:00.

A new wave of the demonstrations sparked in Georgia's capital Tbilisi on Sunday night, after Rustavi 2 anchor Giorgi Gabunia insulted Russian President Vladimir Putin during the live broadcast. The monologue, very offensive to Putin in its form and context, was read in Russian by Gabunia.

A group of civilians gathered around Rustavi 2 TV building around 11 PM on a Sunday night. The protest ended at 4 AM on a Monday morning. The participants of the protest had 2 demands against the channel of Rustavi 2: launching an investigation about Gabunia’s swearing and the resignation of Giorgi Gabunia and Nika Gvaramia. Part of the protestors also demanded the closure of the TV company. 

Gabunia’s statement comes amid street rallies in Georgia, which were sparked by the visit of three Russian MPs to Georgia within the framework of a session of the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy held at the Parliament building on June 20, which was followed by severe protests by the public and opposition MPs, especially due to the fact that Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov sat in the parliamentary Speaker’s chair, speaking in Russian.

Related story: Rustavi 2 TV Resumes Broadcasting

Photo: Rustavi 2/Facebook 

By Ana Dumbadze