http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=12450
*Russia: Tambov Court Confirms Bans of Gay Picket and March Lawful* *Organizers to appeal in regional court and then to the European Court of Human Rights* On Thursday 13 November Lenin district court of Tambov city, 480 km south of Moscow, dismissed Moscow Pride organizers complaint against the ban of gay picket and march in the city by City Administration. The public events were organized to fight homophobia and in support of the rights of sexual minorities in Russia. The federal judge Tamara Prostoserdova announced only resolution part of the decision after three hours of court hearing with the participation of the representatives of City Administration, the prosecutor and organizer of the events Nikolai Alekseev. The applications to conduct the picket and the march on 10 and 18 October respectively were given to the Tambov City Administration on 6 October in full accordance with the Russian law. The same day the authorities offered the organizers to change the place of the picketing and to transfer it to the Ice Sports Palace "Kristall". On Tuesday 7 October the organizers agreed with the proposal of the City Administration. According to the application the picketing to express opinions to denounce homophobic statements of Tambov region governor Oleg Betin and to appeal for respect for the rights of homosexual people in Russia was supposed to take place on 10 October from 1 to 2 pm. Second public event of sexual minorities in Tambov was supposed to take place on 18 October in the form of a march in support for tolerant attitude and respect for the rights and freedoms of homosexual people in Russia. According to the letter of Tambov City Administration the proposed picketing was banned due to the numerous letters of protest received from various public organizations. They said that the event was a propaganda of homosexuality and was deemed to spoil the image of Tambov as an Orthodox city. The City Administration said that in accordance with the law on local government it was obliged to listen to the views of the majority of citizens who were against the conduct of the proposed public event. In these circumstances the authorities stressed that they were unable to provide security for the participants of the event. The ban of the gay march on 18 October was issued due to the impossibility to block traffic. Tambov City Administration said that the march breaches the rights of drivers and could lead to accidents on the city roads. According to Russian federal law the authorities were obliged to offer the organizers alternative route or time for the march. In their complaints to Lenin district court of Tambov organizers of public events said that the authorities had no reasons to ban the events and that they were obliged to provide security for the participants. Organizer of Moscow Gay Pride and public events in Tambov Nikolai Alekseev said upon leaving the court on Thursday that "the decision of the district court will be appealed to Tambov regional court as soon as we get the motivated part of the decision. Even though the position of City Administration representatives and prosecution was very weak, the court decision was dictated by the political situation in the region and in the city". Nikolai Alekseev suggested that "if the regional court also supports city authorities, the case will be sent to the European Court of Human Rights". He reminded that there are several complaints of Russian gay activists concerning the ban of public events in Moscow already pending in Strasbourg. Two of the cases concern the bans of Moscow Pride events in 2006 and 2007. *GayRussia.Ru*
