Detained for trying to convey messages about persecution of gays, fined

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow fined Valentina Dekhtyarenko, an Open Russia activist, 10,000 rubles, who was detained on May 11 during an attempt to submit appeals to the Prosecutor General's Office in connection with the persecution of gays in Chechnya. This was reported by Mediazona with reference to a press release from the organization.

Earlier, two other activists Alexander Alekseyev and Nikita Safronov, who were detained on the same day, were also fined 10,000 rubles by the court. They were accused under Part 5 of Art. 20.2 (violation by a participant of a public event of the established procedure for holding a meeting, rally).

On May 11, the activists planned to take appeals in connection with the persecution of gays in Chechnya to the Prosecutor General's Office. All five - Marina Dedales, Alexandra Alekseeva, Nikita Safronov, Valentina Dekhtyarenko and Italian Yuri Guaiana - were detained by police. They drew up protocols under Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (organization or holding of a public event without filing a notification of its holding in the prescribed manner). The court reclassified the charges from "organization" to "participation."