Gay massacre in Moscow

On May 27, 2006, in Moscow, the organizers of the banned gay pride parade tried to hold an unauthorized event instead. The action escalated into a brawl between opponents of the parade and its participants and violent actions by riot police. It is reported that 120 people were detained - both supporters and opponents of the event.

On May 27, 2005, the organizer of the action, Nikolai Alekseev, announced that it was decided to hold the first part of the action at 14:30 in the Alexander Garden (laying flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier), the second - at 15:00 at the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky.

At approximately 15.00, about 100 opponents of the action, 50 correspondents, as well as a few representatives of sexual minorities gathered at the bars of the Alexander Garden. About 10 protesters, mostly foreigners, tried to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They were attacked by Orthodox radicals and shaven-headed youth - opponents of the parade.

As a result, amid cries of “Gays will not pass” and “Shame on the sodomites,” riot police began to push back the radicals. The action turned into a brawl and mass arrests of both supporters and opponents of the gay pride parade. Among the detainees there are victims.

In particular, one of the organizers of the action, Nikolai Alekseev, was detained. According to Interfax, he was charged with violating Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation ("organizing an unauthorized procession, meeting, demonstration").

Then the events moved to the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky and to the Moscow City Hall building. The action was strictly suppressed. Riot police officers, dressed in bulletproof vests and protective helmets, detained approximately 20 people, among whom was the second organizer of the action, Evgenia Debryanskaya.

On Tverskaya Street, opposite the city hall building , French citizen Pierre Ern was beaten. He was attacked by young people, presumably skinheads, who were waiting for participants in the banned parade.

Oscar Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland was beaten by gay pride protesters when, among other protesters, he tried to lay flowers on the grave of the Unknown Soldier.

As a result of the dispersal of the action near the Moscow City Hall, Bundestag deputy and executive secretary of the parliamentary faction "Union-90/Greens" Volker Beck was detained. He said that he was beaten by skinheads on Tverskaya Street. The police intervened and detained the victim himself. At the police station, the identity of F. Beck, an apology was made to him, and he was released. Beck was examined by a doctor at the German Embassy in Moscow for his injuries.

In total, about 120 people were detained, including Russian Newsweek magazine correspondent Aidar Buribaev, RTVi television correspondent Roman Super, Gazeta.Ru correspondent Andrei Stenin. A. Stenin and a female photojournalist who was not named by him in the report on the events were forced to erase the photographs.

All journalists injured during the dispersal of the gay pride parade are going to file a complaint against the actions of the riot police with the prosecutor's office without waiting for a trial.

The version of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate differs somewhat from eyewitness accounts. Police representatives said that about 200 people took part in the unauthorized rally. “While passing Okhotny Ryad, they began throwing smoke bombs at passers-by and police officers. In order to prevent accidents, a decision was made to detain the most aggressive young people,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.

In addition, the Central Internal Affairs Directorate reported, “when a small part of the action participants finally reached the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, Orthodox believers and other people who were negative towards the gay movement began to protest against them. In order to prevent possible illegal actions, a decision was made partially isolate the protesters by putting them on police buses,” the Department reported.

Germany and France condemned the Moscow authorities for “repression against activists of the gay community.”

The French Green Party condemned the dispersal of Saturday's gay pride parade in Moscow. According to the party's statement, this turn of events is all the more shocking given that Russia has just taken over the Council of Europe as acting chairman.

At the same time, according to the official representative of the French "greens" Sergio Coronado, they demand that the Russian authorities explain why the protection of homosexuals was not provided and what measures the Russian government is going to take to guarantee such protection in the future.

The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, said that the attacks and beatings suffered by members of sexual minorities constitute “a gross attack on the rights of man and every person, contrary to the elementary principles of a democratic nation.”

On June 2, 2006, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into the circumstances of the dispersal of the peaceful march on May 27, 2006. The issued communiqué notes that those responsible for the attacks must be punished, and calls on the authorities to drop charges against the participants in the protest . carrying out an unauthorized event."

Sources

• Clashes between the police and sexual minorities and their opponents replaced the gay pride parade in Moscow // Lenta.Ru. 2006. May 27.
• Detentions of protesters for the rights of sexual minorities began in Moscow // Lenta.Ru. 2006. May 27.
• Instead of gay pride participants on Tverskaya, a black Frenchman was beaten // Lenta.Ru. 2006. May 27.
• The grandson of Oscar Wilde was injured during a gay march in Moscow // REGNUM news agency. 2006. May 29.
• Europe condemned the crackdown on gay protests in Moscow // Grani.Ru. 2006. May 29.
• Shocked French demand the Russian government to account for the gay pride parade // Polit.Ru. 2006. May 29.
• Stenin A. “Democracy ended on this bus” // Gazeta.Ru. 2006. May 29.
• "Human Rights Watch" calls for an investigation into the circumstances of the dispersal of an unauthorized parade of sexual minorities in Moscow // Interfax-Religion. 2006. June 2.