RUSSIA – A dozen activists determined to mark the banned Slavic Gay Pride march were attacked by neo-Nazis and then dispersed by the police in St Petersburg last week.
The St. Petersburg Times reported that the activists shouting “Russia with no homophobes” and “Equal rights with no compromise” marched to central St. Petersburg. Some carried rainbow flags and others carried banners that read, “God is with us, hatred with you,” and “Don’t be scared: Homophobia is curable.”
Despite a massive police presence, a hooded man came out of the crowd and punched one of the activists in the face. This prompted two or three others to rush at the demonstrators and try to seize and destroy the flags and banners.
The hooded attacker was arrested by police and the activists detained and led away. The entire demonstration had lasted less than four minutes. Other activists who were demonstrating on the steps of the Constitutional Court were also detained and later arrested.
The Times reported that the activists were charged with violating the regulations on holding public events and failure to obey a police officer’s orders. Failure to obey a police officer’s orders is punishable with up to 15 days in prison.
According to witnesses, the hooded attacker was released from the police station soon after he had arrived.
Yury Gavrikov, chair of LGBT rights organization Ravnopraviye (Equal Rights) said, “We were left with no option other than to hold an act of civil disobedience to attract the attention of people to the St. Petersburg authorities’ lawlessness with regard to us.”
