同性愛者の権利擁護を訴えるロシアや欧米の活動家らがモスクワ中心部で２７日、警官隊と衝突し、約120人が当局に連行・拘束された。
同性愛者ら１２０人拘束 モスクワ中心でデモ強行 [Yahoo! ニュース／共同通信]
活動家らはデモの許可を申請したが、モスクワ市は拒否。しかし市中心部に集まった約２００人のうちの一部が第２次大戦の戦死者を顕彰する、クレムリン脇の「無名戦士の墓」に花束をささげようと移動を開始し、阻止しようとしたネオナチ・グループと小競り合いになり、周辺に配置されていた警官隊が参加者を次々に拘束した。
英国人活動家はロイター通信に対し「平和なデモがファシストや警官の手で鎮圧された。ロシアの恥だ」と治安当局の対応を批判した。
Moscow's First Gay Pride Parade Disrupted by Police and Hecklers [Washington Post]
Several international activists and politicians traveled to Moscow in a show of support for Moscow's gays and lesbians. Volker Beck, a member of the German Parliament from the Green Party, marched with the group and was struck in the face by skinheads outside city hall. He was briefly detained after the incident. A Canadian journalist was also assaulted by opponents of the parade, who threw smoke bombs and eggs before police moved in to disperse them.
"Lesbians and gays have to cope with major problems in Russia," Beck said at a news conference earlier in the day. "There is a massive threat of violence, and it is also frightening that there is no clear support from the state for the rights of lesbian and gay citizens. On the contrary, the mayor of Moscow deprives people who advocate tolerance and equal rights of the freedom to demonstrate."
国際的なアクティヴィストや政治家も、ロシアのゲイ＆レズビアンをサポートするためにモスクワに結集した。
「ロシアのレズビアンとゲイは多くの問題に立ち向かわなければならない。あまりにも大きな暴力、脅し、恐怖に曝されている。同性愛者の市民に対する国家のサポートは全くない。それどころか、モスクワ市長は、平等と自由の権利を、彼らから奪っている」ドイツの国会議員フォルカー・ベック氏は語った。
ネオ・ナチらに殴打され、警官隊に囲まれるフォルカー・ベック議員
German Politician Beaten By Russian Neo-Nazis [Deutsche Welle]
Volker Beck of Germany's Green party was one of the foreign activists who traveled to Moscow in support of the city's first-ever gay rights rally. And he was among those who gathered in the city center on Saturday even though authorities had banned the march.
The activists were soon surrounded by dozens of religious and nationalist extremists, who chanted anti-gay slogans and tried to break up the gathering. Police units then moved on the crowd. During the clashes that followed Volker Beck was punched in the face and slightly injured.
"I was attacked by a neo-Nazi. First with a stone then with a fist," he said. "This incident clearly shows that gays are not safe in this country. Police failed to protect us, they even prevented us from escaping, so we were exposed to the dangerous situation without any protection."
Moscow gay rights rally broken up [CNN]
We were expecting this. It's the authorities that are allowing this to happen," said a woman holding a limp red carnation who identified herself as Anna, a lesbian.
Riot police rushed in to separate the assailants from the gays but detained Alexeyev "as the ringleader," said British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, who was in the group.
Police said later they had detained 120 anti-gay protesters and gay activists.
"Both the authorities and the fascists had the same objective -- to suppress the Moscow gay pride," Tatchell told The Associated Press.
当局とファシストどもは同じ目的を持っている。それはモスクワ・ゲイ・パレードの粉砕だ、とイギリスの活動家ピーター・タッチェル氏はAP通信に語った。
[関連エントリー]
