English » Slavic Pride » 5 July 2010 at 16¹⁷

Belarus court Upheld Slavic Gay Pride Ban in Minsk

The Moscow district Court of Minsk upheld the ban of the second Slavic Gay Pride March in support of tolerance and respect for human rights and freedom of LGBT people in Belarus and Russia. The decision was announced verbally after the Court hearing and the arguments will be given at a later stage.

Sergey Androsenko, Minsk Pride Chief Organizer and Coordinator of the Human Rights LGBT Project GayBelarus.By told GayRussia.Ru:

"We will appeal this decision to a higher Court and if we do not get satisfaction which is very likely given the political situation in Belarus, we will take this case straight to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations,

"We know that the Committee's decision are not legally binding, but we have no access to the European Court of Human Rights as our country is not a member of the Council of Europe, therefore, we do what we can".

Last May 15, the Slavic Gay Pride March went ahead in the streets of Minsk despite the ban. 12 participants were brutally arrested after the police violently broke up the rally.

The Slavic Gay Pride is a union of Russian and Belarusian gay activists founded in Minsk in 2008. The first Slavic Pride took place in Moscow in May 2009 and the third edition is scheduled in St Petersburg on June 25, 2011.

Author: GayBelarus.By / GayRussia.Ru

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