MOSCOW, June 16, 2008 (GayRussia.ru)  –  Moscow Gay Pride organisers have today sent their new application to the European Court of Human Rights Strasbourg against Russia.  It is the third application to be sent from Moscow to the Court.

The new application is in connection with the ban on their picketing in front of the office of the European Commission in Moscow last year.  The claimants are asking that Russia pays 30,000 euros (about £23,600UK or $46,400US) in compensation for the breaches of their human rights.

During the proposed picket on June 27 last years, the activists planned to call on the authorities of the European Union to ban the entrance of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to the EU states because of the systematic violations of human rights enshrined in Russian legislation and International conventions – as well as the unlawful bans of public protests.

On June 25 2007 Prefecture of the Central Administrative Area of Moscow said that the picket would be allowed, but with not more than 60 participants.

Then, the next day the Deputy Prefect Galina Boryatinskaya cancelled her earlier decision and banned the picketing due to the construction works next to the location of the demonstration.

This decision was handed to the organisers by representatives of the Moscow police as they assembled for the picket.  No alternative location was provided.

During the “unsanctioned picketing”, police arrested the chief organiser Kirill Nepomnyaschiy. He, and two other gay activists who were taken to the Yakimanka police station where they were charged with the “breach of the procedure for the organisation of public events”.  Three hours later they were released.

The ban of the event was appealed to Taganskiy district court of Moscow which ruled on November 14 that the ban was lawful, siding with the arguments of the Prefecture.

On February 14, the Moscow City court confirmed the decision of the lower court dismissing the appeal of the organisers.

In their application to the European Court of Human Rights the claimants insist that the ban of the picketing on June 27, 2007, and its further confirmation in Russian courts, breached a number of Articles of the European Convention, including Article 11 (right to freedom of assembly), Article 14 (ban on discrimination) in conjunction with Article 11 and Article 13 (right to court protection).

“The application which we sent to the European Court today is only the first which deals with the bans of public events of sexual minorities in Moscow not connected with Gay Pride events,” said Nikolai Alekseev of Moscow Pride.

“Currently we are finishing our work on several similar cases.”

Mr. Alekseev suggested that “the Moscow authorities actually ban any public events of gays and lesbians in the city which contradicts Russian legislation and European Convention on the protection of Human Rights”.

He also pointed out that “two complaints concerning the bans of Moscow Pride events in May 2006 and May 2007 are already in the European Court awaiting consideration”.

“In the light of the earlier legal positions expressed by Strasbourg court we have no doubts that there will be a positive decision,” he said.

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Posted: 16 June 2008 at 21:00 (UK time)