"Here stands a mourning Georgia"

"Before we bury our country like Lekso, we must wake up and change everything," said Nika Gvaramia, CEO of the Mtavari Channel, at the funeral of TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava.

"Here, now stands a mourning Georgia, I believe in this fully. I do not speak only of those who are here, those who expressed support and solidarity. Here, Georgia is now mourning, mourning not only for Lekso, not only for the media, but for its own country a well. A government that first kills a man, then kidnaps his corpse and drags his mourning mother to the floor, then kicks and spits in the most horrible way on a boy in the grave with a rigged and a disgraceful investigation, this country should be mourned, when it has such a government. And before we bury our country like Lekso, We have to wake up and change everything. I ask everyone, first the Georgian society, our main allies, non-governmental organizations and the diplomatic corps - help us, change it. There is no other way for this country to survive!" - says Nika Gvaramia.

Lekso Lashkarava, the cameraman of TV Pirveli, who was severely beaten by the homophobic thugs on July 5, will be buried next to his father in Saburtalo Cemetery today.