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 Moscow
Gay Pride Organizer Convicted
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: June 9, 2007 - 4:00 pm ET
(Moscow) A Moscow court on
Saturday convicted Nikolay Alexeyev, the organizers of a gay
pride march, of holding an illegal demonstration and resisting
police.
He was fined $1000 rubles each, about $40.
Before the sentence was rendered Alexeyev walked
out of the courtroom in protest, calling the proceeding a "farce".
Alexeyev accused the judge of
refusing to hear defense evidence and said he would refuse to
pay the fine. Another organizer of last month's parade, Nikolay
Khramov, also was fined.
Both are expected to appeal the
sentences.
In all about 20 people were arrested at the May
27 parade. Two European parliamentarians and British gay advocate Peter Tatchell
were among them.
About 100 people had attempted to hold the gay
parade despite the refusal of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov to issue a permit.
Waiting for the gay marchers
were members of extreme right nationalist groups, Russian
Orthodox churchgoers, and young militants.
The crowd pelted the gay group
with eggs and started a number of skirmishes until police
moved in arresting the gay leaders.
A woman threw a bottle of water
on Tatchell and then a young man in military fatigues hit him
in the head. The British rights leader was led away by
police.
Police were accused of doing
nothing to stop the angry mob.
"I didn't feel
protected," said Vladimir Luxuria, the first transsexual
member of the Italian Parliament after she was released.
A Moscow court in April tossed
out a lawsuit accusing Mayor Lushkov of libel over claims he
made that gay rights marches were "satanic." (story)
The court ruled that Moscow
Pride leaders had failed to prove that the remarks were
incendiary or intended to vilify gays in general.
In January during a Kremlin
meeting before leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church Lushkov
said that gay rights marches were "satanic," (story)
The speech was broadcast on Moscow television.
Lushkov then went on to blast
gay unions.
"Some
European nations bless single-sex marriages and introduce
sexual guides in schools," Lushkov said in the speech
broadcast on Moscow television. "Such things are a deadly
moral poison for children."
Moscow Pride called Lushkov's
remarks a "smear campaign" against gays and lesbians
and filed the lawsuit.
Last year, Lushkov refused to
give a permit for the gay parade citing security concerns.
Despite the ban, marchers
attempted to hold a parade. Police quickly moved in
arresting marchers and counter protestors. (story)
©365Gay.com 2007
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