A court in St. Petersburg fined two LGBT activists for a rally on Palace Square

In the Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg, LGBT activists Alexander Khmelev and Vyacheslav Vereshchagin were fined for a series of one-man pickets on Palace Square on August 4. This was reported to OVD-Info by human rights activist Dinar Idrisov.

Judge Oleg Tikhomirov found Khmelev and Vereshchagin guilty of repeated violation of the procedure for holding the event (part 8 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) and fined 170 and 150 thousand rubles, respectively. The trial of Alexander Khmelev took place without his participation, since he did not come to the meeting. According to Idrisov, the judge did not study the materials of the Khmelev case, and made a decision based on an inner conviction that the activist was guilty.

Earlier, Alexander Khmelev and Vyacheslav Vereshchagin were detained by law enforcement officers and taken to the 29th police department of the Moscow region. The police came for Khmelev right during the meeting of the Solidarity St. Petersburg movement. For both, protocols were drawn up under Part 8 of Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

• On August 4, after the city administration did not agree on the procession of the St. Petersburg Pride, a series of single-person pickets were held on Palace Square demanding the right to freedom of assembly for LGBT people. Shortly after the start of the action, employees of the National Guard began to disperse and detain those who came to the square.
• In total, law enforcement officers detained 30 people. They were taken to police departments No. 78, No. 74, No. 64, No. 54 and No. 29. Protocols were drawn up against the detainees under Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. Protocols were drawn up against several activists under Part 8 of Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (repeated violation of the order of the event).