MOSCOW, April 27, 2006  –  Almost half of Russians asked think that radical Russian Mufti Talgat Tadjuddin should be prosecuted for his anti-gay outburst earlier this year, an opinion poll has found.

Conducted by the independent Levada-Centre who questioned 1,600 adults across Russia, the poll revealed that only 28 per cent did not support criminal prosecution, while 49 per cent said that the authorities should decisively suppress the homophobic public statements of Mufti Tadjuddin.  23 per cent were undecided.

In February, Mufti Tadjuddin told the Russian news agency Interfax that the “Prophet Muhammad encouraged to kill homosexuals and if they go on the streets they should only be thrashed”.

He added that “protests of Muslims can be worse than those taking place abroad on the issue of scandalous cartoon” and that  gays had crossed the line.

“They [gays] don’t have any rights because to have non-traditional orientation is a crime against God,” said.  The Mufti was commenting on Moscow Pride parade, set for May 27.

The Mufti’s remarks, widely reported in Russia – and beyond, have been widely condemned.  And the Levada-Centre found that the condemnation was reflected within most social groups, including Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Protestants.

Only amongst Muslims was there a majority who were against prosecution – but even in this grouping almost 42 per cent thought that legal action should be taken against the radical cleric.

“The results of the representative poll conducted by the independent polling centre give no reasons to doubt that majority of Russians consider the statements of Tadjuddin directed towards homosexuals in general and participants of the gay pride totally inadmissible,” said Nikolai Alekseev, head of the LGBT human rights group GayRussia, who commissioned the poll.

Most Russians think that the author of such statements should bear responsibility,” he added.

Days after Tadjuddin’s remarks were published, Gay Pride organisers lodged an official complaint to the Russian General Prosecution, asking for the prosecution of the Mufti under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of Russia which bans incitement of hatred towards a social group.

The complaint is now with the local prosecution of Tverskoy district of Moscow which has yet to open a criminal case.

“Russian law enforcement authorities naively thought that attacks against homosexuals do not worry Russian people, but they were mistaken,” commented Alekseev.

“As the poll showed, Russians do not accept violence which is being pressured by religious extremists and demand actions from the prosecution department.

“We will go to the highest authority to see that Tadjuddin is held responsible for his words”.

The statement of the Mufti was reported by most of the Russian media. They shocked and perplexed many people not only in LGBT community but also among journalists and public figures.

Condemnation has come from mainstream human rights activist Lev Ponomarev, famous Russian journalists Natalia Gevorkyan, Evgeniy Kiselev and Viktor Shederovich, as well as from the attorney and representative of Russian government in the Constitutional Court, Mihail Barschevskiy.