A number of Ukrainian journalists and photographers have held a demonstration near the Georgian Embassy in Kyiv in support for Georgian photojournalists accused of spying in Tbilisi.
The Svidomo journalistic investigations website (www.svidomo.org) has reported that a dozen journalists and photographers approached the embassy building on Tuesday carrying signs saying, ‘I am a Stasi agent’, ‘I am a CIA agent’, ‘I am a KGB agent’, and ‘I am a Mossad agent’.
"You should understand that the same can happen here as well. To many Ukrainians, Georgia is an example of a successfully developing state. It would be sad if this example turns out negative," civil service activist Vyacheslav Bohuslavsky said.
The web publication Telekritika (www.telekritika.ua) has reported that the demonstrators also expressed their outrage about a Monday incident in which a Georgian Embassy official caused bodily injuries to a Ukrainian photojournalist.
Irakly Kandelaki, a minster-counselor at the Georgian Embassy in Ukraine, confirmed to Interfax that several journalists held a demonstration near the embassy building for less than an hour on Tuesday.
"They did not pass anything to us," Kandelaki said when asked whether the demonstrators had passed any demands or statements to the embassy personnel.
He also denied media reports that the embassy security had been stepped up because of the protest.
