PLEASE SHARE! On October 26th, LGBT activists, Mikhail Rublevski, Reyda Linn and Ilmira Shaykhraznova, staged a picket in the center of Lipetsk that resulted in scuffles with the police, nationalists and soccer fans. Earlier it was announced that the picket would take place on Sobornaya square, but at the last moment the organizers decided to walk into Plekhanov square. The activists with the rainbow flag, the Russian tricolored flag and burning flares in their hands didnt stay there for a long time. After Plekhanov square, they were heading for Sobornaya square where the tens of aggressive and violent nationalists and soccer fans along with the police gathered already by that time. “There were attempts to prevent us from walking into the square,” said Reyda Linn. “There were about ten policemen waiting for us there who ordered to show them our IDs having no legal grounds to do so. When asked for the reasons, they said that we were suspected in committing a criminal offense. Then they asked us why we were heading for Sobornaya square, and we said we were just taking a walk. They said, “Go away from here, the square is not a place for taking walks”. After some time there started some scuffles in the crowd, and the most aggressive “guardians of morality” were detained by the police. Mikhail Rublevski, Reyda Linn and Ilmira Shaykhraznova had to get into a police van as the policemen promised to bring them to the home of one of the organizers so to assure their safety. However, the activists were taken to a police station along with the counter-protesters. “They kept us together in one room, they threatened us, took away our documents, tried to rescue our personal belongings without making a list of them,” continued Linn. “And A. G. Bogdanov and K. O. Logunov who attacked us earlier were asked to be attesting witnesses. Only when members of a public monitoring committee and our lawyer came to the station they ceased that disregard of the law”. Moreover, the homophobes who attacked the LGBT activists came at their personal data, as some journalists claimed. Gleb Latnik, a volunteer from Spectrum Human Rights Alliance, called the police station, and he was told by an officer that the detainees were kept in separate rooms and the LGBT activists met their lawyer. At present all the activists are free. The further hearing will take place in the court. They can allegedly be charged under Article 19.3 and 20.2 of Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation, that is disobeying a lawful order of a police officer, and face an imprisonment for 15 days or fine up to 1,000 rubles.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 05:03:25 +0000