RUSSIA: Gays win landmark rights case against government

Record ID: 277053

  • Title: RUSSIA: Gays win landmark rights case against government
  • Date: 22nd October 2010
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 21, 2010) (REUTERS) PRESS-CONFERENCE OF RUSSIAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS BANNER WITH SIGN READING "GAY RUSSIA" (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) NIKOLAI ALEXEEV, RUSSIAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST, SAYING: "The irony is that we have been waiting for this decision for five years and it comes exactly on the day of the appointment of the new Mayor [of Moscow]." MEDIA (
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Legal System
  • Reuters ID: LVA795WEHRXOON88SMH33CFMVTAK
  • Story Text: Russian gay rights activists welcome European Court of Human Rights decision which see Russia fined for banning homosexual parades in Moscow.
    The European Court of Human Rights said on Thursday (October 21) it had fined Russia for banning homosexual parades in Moscow, marking a victory for the country's marginalised gay community.
    Gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev had lodged three cases with the court arguing that Russia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights, to which it subscribes as a member state of the Council of Europe.
    The Strasbourg-based court ruled that Russia had violated rights of assembly and had discriminated on grounds of sexual orientation. It ordered Russia to pay 29,510 euros (41,090USD) to Alexeyev in damages and for legal fees.
    For years authorities had denied gays permission to hold demonstrations on the grounds that they would cause a violent reaction in the country, where prejudice against gays runs deep.
    "The irony is that we have been waiting for this decision for five years and it comes exactly on the day of the appointment of the new Mayor [of Moscow], "said Nikolai Alexeev, Russian gay rights activist, at a news conference in Moscow, held one hour after the European Court announced its decision and one hour before Moscow's new Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has been inaugurated.
    "The European Court has decided that the ban of three gay prides in Moscow in 2006, 2007 and 2008 contradicted the European Convention. The decision has been taken unanimously, including by the judge from Russia," said Alexeev.
    Several attempts by Russian gay activists to hold Gay Pride in Moscow were thwarted by the city authorities.
    Demonstrators have sometimes been beaten by police during rallies. Moscow's ex-mayor Yuri Luzhkov called gay marches "satanic" and said the demonstrations would endanger public health and morality.
    "This decision opens for us the way to use our right to freedom of assembly in 2011. Actually not only in 2011, but in the near future; but as we hold a gay pride every May, we plan to hold it again on May 28, 2011. And nobody, including new Moscow authorities, cannot ban us from doing so because of this decision of the European court," said Alexeev before cutting the cake to celebrate the court's decision.
    Analysts are still awaiting signals over whether new Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who was approved by lawmakers for the post on Thursday, will take a softer line on gay rights.
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