it
en
40 MEPs call on Moscow's mayor to guarantee safety of gay-pride march this weekend
Tweet
40 MEPs from 15 countries and 5 different political groups have signed an open letter prepared by Marco Cappato (Radical Party, Italy) and Sophie In't Veld (D66, Netherlands) which has been addressed to Yuri LUZHKOV, the Mayor of Moscow ahead of this weekend's march in support of tolerance and respect for the rights and freedoms of homosexual people in Russia. The 2006 march was banned by the authorities and attacked by violent demonstrators, injuring several participants.
The signatories are calling on the Mayor not only to grant permission for the march to take place (authorisation still pending) but to ensure the safety of the participants. They recall the recent ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, belonging to the Council of Europe of which Russia is a member, which found against the decision of the mayor of Warsaw in 2005 who had banned a similar equality march. The Strasbourg-based court condemned all discrimination and restrictions on freedom of association as being contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Marco Cappato and Sophie In't Veld will be participating in this year's march in Moscow on Sunday to show their support and the seriousness with which the ALDE group believes the should EU defend these fundamental rights.
The signatories are calling on the Mayor not only to grant permission for the march to take place (authorisation still pending) but to ensure the safety of the participants. They recall the recent ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, belonging to the Council of Europe of which Russia is a member, which found against the decision of the mayor of Warsaw in 2005 who had banned a similar equality march. The Strasbourg-based court condemned all discrimination and restrictions on freedom of association as being contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Marco Cappato and Sophie In't Veld will be participating in this year's march in Moscow on Sunday to show their support and the seriousness with which the ALDE group believes the should EU defend these fundamental rights.
