Organizers continue their legal battle against the ban by all available means
The Moscow City Court has today refused an appeal for a “special procedure review” by the organizers of last year’s Moscow Pride over a ban of the march through the streets of the Russian capital on May 27.
The decision of the Moscow authorities in May was appealed to Tverskoi district court of Moscow and on the eve of the march the court confirmed the ban.
Then on September 19, the Moscow City court dismissed the appeal of the organizers, leaving the decision of the local court unchanged.
On November 13, Moscow Gay Pride organizers sent a ‘special procedure’ claim to the Presidium of Moscow City Court, though this procedure is not considered as an effective legal remedy by the European Court of Human Rights.
In its decision of December 25, Judge Klueva of Moscow City Court said that none of the previous court decisions in the case raised doubts in their lawfulness and they can not be set aside in this special procedure.
The Court made reference to Russian law on public marches and demonstrations as well as to Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly under the conditions that “no restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others”.
Moscow City Court confirmed that the earlier decisions were correct and that the state authorities are allowed to ban public events for security reasons.
Even though it is written in the law that the authorities are obliged to provide an alternative route or time of the public event, the court said that nothing prevented the organizers from applying again with a different route.
“We tried to offer to Russian judicial system yet another chance to review the illegal decision banning the pride march but at the end we just got one more name in the list of homophobic judges, fully dependent on Moscow authorities and the City’s Mayor personally,” Nikolai Alekseev, one of the Gay Pride organisers said following today’s decision.
“Now, according to the law, we have the right to appeal the decision to the head of Moscow City Court and then to apply to the Russian Supreme Court which will not be dependent on Moscow Mayor anymore and will express the position of federal authorities,” Mr. Alekseev added.
An application to the European Court of Human Rights is now ready and is currently being assessed by legal experts.
Eleven months ago, Yuri Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, told reporters at a press conference in Berlin that he intended to ban the Pride parade.
“I have not been approached by the organisers of the gay Pride parade,” he told reporters in front of the Mayors of Berlin, Paris and London, cities that all stage large-scale Pride parades. “And if I had, I would have banned it. I don’t want to go against public opinion.
“Most people in Moscow — and throughout the Russian Federation — are opposed to the parade. Most religious organisations are also against it. “A parade like this is not going to take place,” he vowed.
Last week, the European Court agreed to hear a complaint against the Warsaw city authorities over the ban of Warsaw Pride parade in 2005. The Mayor of Warsaw at the time of the ban is now the Polish President. A decision from the Court is expected later this year.
GayRussia.Ru, UkGayNews.Org.Uk
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