Hundreds of people have been protesting in Georgia asking the government to resign over the death of a journalist who was attacked and beaten by anti-LGBT protesters.
Cameraman Alexander Lashkarava was found dead in his home Sunday by his mother, according to the TV Pirveli channel he worked for. Lashkarava was one of several dozen journalists attacked last Monday by opponents of an LGBT march that was scheduled to take place in Tbilisi.
Lashkarava was brutally beaten. Local TV channels showed him with bruises on his face and blood on the floor around him. Media reports say he sustained multiple injuries and had to undergo surgery but was discharged from a hospital on Thursday.
The cause of his death was not immediately clear.
Animosity against sexual minorities is strong in the conservative Black Sea nation of Georgia. The Tbilisi Pride group said opponents of the planned march were supported by the government and by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili condemned the violence, but Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili alleged the march was organized by "radical opposition" forces that he claimed were led by exiled former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
On Monday, demonstrators gathered in front of Georgia's parliament, then went on to rally in front of the headquarters of the ruling Georgian Dream party. Some threw eggs and paint at the party headquarters building. 12 people were arrested.
A video is also doing the rounds of internet wherein Georgian journalists can be seen interrupting a press briefing while protesting against the government.
Watch the video here:
As soon as the video made it to Twitter, Indians were quick to compare the protesting journalists to media personnel back home. Indians expressed their dejection at the current state of media in India and asked Indian journalists to stand up for justice just like Georgian journalists.
Here's what people are saying. Have a look.
With inputs from PTI.
