Tver Court of Moscow forbade the conduct of a gay parade in the capital

The Tver court of Moscow refused to allow the holding of a gay parade in Moscow. Thus, the court recognized the decision of the Moscow Government, which previously refused the organizers to conduct the procession - gay parade, and refused to satisfy the statement of the organizers of this event.

Commenting on the court decision, the organizer of the gay parade Nikolai Alekseev said that he considers him illegal. According to him, despite the fact that the court decision was not made in his favor today, the procession will still be organized. "It will pass not along the route that was previously declared. The process of the procession will be collectively accepted, but we will not announce it," said Alekseev.

Representatives of sexual minorities planned to hold a procession from the General Post Office along Myasnitskaya Street to Solovetsky Stone on Lyuban Square from 15:00 to 17:00. It was assumed that up to 2 thousand people would take part in this action.

During the meeting, the lawyer representing the interests of Alekseev, announcing the demand, said that he considers the decision of the Moscow government to refuse to hold this event illegal.

"My principal has submitted an application for a public event - a procession that aims to attract the attention of society and the authorities to the discrimination of persons of homosexual orientation," said the representative of Alekseev Dmitry Barbenev in court.

Alekseev told Interfax that he would appeal the decision in the Moscow City Court. "We will appeal the decision in the Moscow City Court immediately, and if it is required in the European Court of Human Rights," he said.

Moscow Mayor Luzhkov considers the holding of a Love-parade unacceptable to Russia

Meanwhile, over 99% of Muscovites supported the decision of the metropolitan authorities on the ban on the holding of a gay parade in the city. This was announced today by the mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov, speaking on the radio of the Russian News Service.

"I said that we will not even consider the issue of such a parade in Moscow. This situation itself can be acceptable for some Western countries advanced in this regard with its unbridledness, but it is absolutely unacceptable for Moscow and for Russia," Luzhkov said.

"The unacceptability of this Love parade, I think, first of all, is according to moral and ethical principles. If someone has deviations from the principles of organizing their life in the field of sex, gender, they do not need to put them on public display," Luzhkov said.

Yuri Luzhkov recalled that his decision to prohibit the gay parade "caused the collapse of the negative assessments of the urban city hall in the Western press." The mayor Luzhkov said that he would never allow the gay parade in Moscow.

Earlier, the Moscow authorities motivated their refusal "inability to remove the automobile movement along the route of the procession," noting that "this is done only on public holidays."

Alekseev believes that such a ban is contrary to Russian and international law. “If any restrictions related to security issues may be, then they must be prescribed by law, and not determined by the opinion of a particular official,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of the European Council for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg believes that the Russian authorities should not prohibit the conduct of gay parades. "The law of peaceful meetings is the basis of a democratic society and belongs to all people. Cases of homophobia cannot be a prohibition," the Hammarberg message voiced on Friday at a press conference in Moscow on the occasion of the International Homophobia Day said.

“If the authorities are afraid of excesses during such peaceful processions, then they must ensure security, and not cancel them,” said the representative of the CE.

A peaceful procession, in his opinion, can only be canceled if there is a real threat to life to its participants. “The authorities must find a decision in order to ensure freedom of assembly guaranteed in a democratic society. They must give a clear answer to the aggression against such meetings and educate tolerance in society,” said Hammarberg. Earlier, the heads of the main religious faiths, as well as a number of politicians, opposed the action of sex minorities.