Veteran LGBT+ and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been arrested during a one-man protest against Russia’s mistreatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, as the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Moscow.
Tatchell was reportedly holding a banner supporting gay men who have been violently targeted in a purge in Chechnya while standing next to the statue Marshal Zhukov close to the Kremlin.
This is the campaigner’s sixth visit to Russia. He was previously arrested twice during protests in Moscow and suffered brain damage after being attacked by Russian neo-Nazis in 2007.
Speaking from Russia before undertaking his latest protest Peter Tatchell said he wanted to show solidarity with people in Russia who are brave enough to protest.
“I was exercising my lawful right to protest, under the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and the right to protest in Articles 29 and 31. A one-person protest, which is what I did, requires no permission from the authorities and the police.
“Getting arrested is standard for Russians who protest for LGBT+ rights or against corruption, economic injustice and Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its bombing of civilians in Syria.
“Unlike brave Russian protesters, I have the ‘protection’ of a British passport, which means I have been treated more leniently than they are.
“My fate was mild compared to what often happens to Russians who dare to challenge the Putin regime. I am awed by their courage.”
The Human Rights campaigner said Russia had unanswered questions about purge of gay men in Chechnya in 2017.
“President Putin has failed to condemn and act against the homophobic witch-hunts in Chechnya, which have seen scores of LGBT+ people arrested and tortured, with some even being killed.
“The singer Zelim Bakaev disappeared in Chechnya in August 2017 and has never been seen since.
“Russia’s 2013 anti-gay law against so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’ has been used to suppress peaceful LGBT+ protests, sack LGBT+ teachers and suppress welfare organisations that support LGBT+ teenagers.
“Little action has been taken by the Russian government and police to crack down on far right extremists who target LGBT+ people for violent and humiliating assaults – including the instigators of the current threats to bash and stab LGBT+ football fans at the World Cup.” Tatchell said.
OIP Staff
