12:27, 22 September 2018

Pyatigorsk authorities repeatedly ban rally in defence of LGBT community

The LGBT community flag. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Romero

The Mayoralty of Pyatigorsk has treated the action demanding to observe the constitutional rights of members of the LGBT community as propaganda, dangerous for children, and refused to sanction it, activists have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that activists challenged at court the Pyatigorsk Mayoralty's refusal to sanction the action planned for September 18. At the action, the applicants wanted to demand an investigation into reports about mass persecutions of gays in Chechnya.

In June, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also called on Russia to conduct an appropriate investigation. In August, 15 member countries of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) demanded from Russia to provide a report on human rights violations in Chechnya; however, human rights defenders doubted that it could affect the situation.

The Pyatigorsk Mayoralty has again considering the application of LGBT activists and found the goals of the rally unacceptable, the LGBT "Solidarity" public movement has reported.

Activists intend to appeal against this decision at the Pyatigorsk City Court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 21, 2018 at 08:28 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.