from last night's late night bulletins-
Russia’s best known gay rights activist was arrested last night at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. And there are concerns as, so far, officials are not giving out any information about his whereabouts.
Nikolai Alekseev was about to board Swiss Air Lines flight for Geneva and had passed through passport control when he was arrested by Russian border police at about 7pm Moscow time.
No explanation has yet been given by officials as to why he was arrested.
He was taken to a closed room at the airport.
However, he was able to get messages out by mobile telephone of his arrest before his handset was confiscated as he was speaking with other activists at GayRussia.ru Website.
A group of three fellow activists, led by Nikolai Baev, immediately headed for the airport to assess the situation.
But airport police refused to give any further comment apart from saying that “Alekseev is not here”.
One police man did, however, suggest that Mr. Alekseev might have been transferred to the FSB, formally the KGB, headquarters on Lubianska Square in Moscow.
Ludmila Alekseeva from the Moscow Helsinki Group called the Main Office of the Moscow Police and was told that there is no track of the activist in their system.
Yesterday, activists from GayRussia announced that they had applied to stage a picket against the Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, on September 21 on the occasion of his birthday. The theme of the picket was “Luzhkov – gomiki”.
Recently a Russian court confirmed that when the Mayor of Moscow called gays “gomiki” in the media, the term was not offensive. Gomiki is the translation of “faggot”
(1) UK GAY NEWS & GAYRUSSIA.RU
The lastest from Russia, confirmed by Nikolai's partner in Geneva:
Alekseev: "They Want Me to Withdraw the Complaints to European Court over Moscow Gay Pride"
Russian authorities continue to detain a gay activist, his whereabouts still unknown.
The following is an English translation of an article posted on the Website of GayRussia.ru this morning. The Website is "under attack" at the time of this posting on UK Gay News.
"I cannot say where [I am], but not in Moscow," he said when asked about his whereabouts.
Mr Alekseev told about the pressures exerted on him. The authorities have threatened to block his exit from Russia.
"They also threatened me that a lot of bad things about me will be given to the Swiss authorities should I leave," he said.
"It is quite possible that the detention was linked to holding a picket for the resignation of homophobic Moscow mayor Luzhkov," activist Nikolai Baev suggested.
Earlier, Mr. Alexeyev, and other LGBT activists had announced they would be staging a picket for the dismissal of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
"The authorities use tactics of kidnapping and psychological pressure on people who displeased them," Mr. Baev pointed out. "Apparently, this is their 'agony' before the inevitable ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the illegal ban demonstrations of gay pride in Moscow.
"The government is clearly losing to the the gay activists in the legal fight, so they resort to violence," he continued.
"I do not rule out homophobic insults, abuse and even torture against him.
"If they think they can frighten us they're wrong - the effect will be counterproductive. Such lawlessness and violence against the person will only strengthen our resolve to defend their civil rights," Mr. Baev concluded.
(2) EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S INTERGROUP ON LGBT RIGHTS
ILGA-Europe keeps monitoring the situation in Russia and is alerting European institutions to take action.
(4) EUROPEAN REGION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND
INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
from Juris Lavrikovs-
Ludmila Alekseeva from the Moscow Helsinki Group called the Main Office of the Moscow Police and was told that there is no track of the activist in their system.
Yesterday, activists from GayRussia announced that they had applied to stage a picket against the Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, on September 21 on the occasion of his birthday. The theme of the picket was “Luzhkov – gomiki”.
Recently a Russian court confirmed that when the Mayor of Moscow called gays “gomiki” in the media, the term was not offensive. Gomiki is the translation of “faggot”
(1) UK GAY NEWS & GAYRUSSIA.RU
The lastest from Russia, confirmed by Nikolai's partner in Geneva:
Alekseev: "They Want Me to Withdraw the Complaints to European Court over Moscow Gay Pride"
Russian authorities continue to detain a gay activist, his whereabouts still unknown.
The following is an English translation of an article posted on the Website of GayRussia.ru this morning. The Website is "under attack" at the time of this posting on UK Gay News.
MOSCOW, September 16, 2010 (GayRussia) -- Russian authorities have detained the organizer of Moscow Gay Pride, Nikolai Alekseev, and are requiring him to abandon a picket, demanding the resignation of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.Later, at 8 am, he clarified that he is no longer held in Domodedovo Airport, where he was detained at the airport yesterday evening.
The authorities are also demanding that he withdraws lawsuits lodged with the European Court of Human Rights over the banning of Moscow Gay Prides over the past five years.
"They demanded of me to give up on the picket Luzhkov and withdraw a complaint by the gay pride of European court" Mr. Alekseev said today at 6:00 am.
"I cannot say where [I am], but not in Moscow," he said when asked about his whereabouts.
Mr Alekseev told about the pressures exerted on him. The authorities have threatened to block his exit from Russia.
"They also threatened me that a lot of bad things about me will be given to the Swiss authorities should I leave," he said.
"It is quite possible that the detention was linked to holding a picket for the resignation of homophobic Moscow mayor Luzhkov," activist Nikolai Baev suggested.
Earlier, Mr. Alexeyev, and other LGBT activists had announced they would be staging a picket for the dismissal of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
"The authorities use tactics of kidnapping and psychological pressure on people who displeased them," Mr. Baev pointed out. "Apparently, this is their 'agony' before the inevitable ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the illegal ban demonstrations of gay pride in Moscow.
"The government is clearly losing to the the gay activists in the legal fight, so they resort to violence," he continued.
"I do not rule out homophobic insults, abuse and even torture against him.
"If they think they can frighten us they're wrong - the effect will be counterproductive. Such lawlessness and violence against the person will only strengthen our resolve to defend their civil rights," Mr. Baev concluded.
(2) EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S INTERGROUP ON LGBT RIGHTS
Through brief contacts in the night, Mr Alekseev informed trusted sources that he was not charged with any offence. He appears to be under pressure to cancel a planned protest against Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, and withdraw a pending case against the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights concerning their violation of freedom of assembly obligations.(3) EUROPEAN REGION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
ILGA-Europe demands immediate release of Nikolai Alekseev, organiser of Moscow PrideILGA-Europe is appalled by the closure of the opening of St Petersburg's Queer Culture festival and calls on St Petersburg's authorities to respect the constitutional rights of LGBTI people to free assembly, association and expression and to ensure the festival goes ahead without any restrictions.
ILGA-Europe is seriously concerned with the ongoing harassment of LGBTI human rights defenders in Russia:
1. on 15 September 2010, Nikolai Alekseev, a prominent human rights activist, was detained by Russian authorities which demanded him to withdraw his complaints against Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding continuous violations of the right to free assembly for LGBTI people in Russia;
2. On the same day, the opening of the Queer Culture Festival in St Petersburg was cancelled and the entire festival is in danger of being banned following a recommendation by the city administration describing the Festival as `propaganda of homosexuality'.
We are very concerned about Nikolai Alekseev's safety and demand immediate and unconditional release of the activist by the Russian authorities and immediate end of intimidation and pressurising him to withdraw his ECHR complaints. ILGA-Europe has been in touch with the activists in the region who confirmed Nikolai was still in detention as of 12:00 Brussels time. It appears the Russian authorities realize their inevitable humiliating defeat at the European Court of Human Rights and employ such desperate methods as intimidation, threat and abduction to prevent it.
ILGA-Europe keeps monitoring the situation in Russia and is alerting European institutions to take action.
(4) EUROPEAN REGION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND
INTERSEX ASSOCIATION
from Juris Lavrikovs-
Dear all,
According to this Russian news portal, Nikolai Alekseev is now free and is in Minsk (Belarus). We will post any updates if/when we hear anything further.
The organizer of Moscow Gay Pride Nikolai Alekseev was expelled from Russia to Belarus. On Wednesday evening at the "Interfax reported that he was detained at Domodedovo airport and would not let out of the country, as of Thursday afternoon he said that he is in the capital of neighboring state.
-sorry for the spotty reporting. this story is still unfolding and being reported/updated as I publish. And some of the poor grammar comes from Google translations of Russian news sources.
-end-
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