SAINT PETERSBURG, Polisi Rusia menahan hampir 20 aktivis hak asasi kaum gay di tengah-tengah perayaan Hari Buruh Internasional “May Day” pada Selasa , 1/5.
Penangkapan ini didasari keputusan parlemen kota pada bulan Maret lalu yang telah memberlakukan hukum baru yang membatasi segala bentuk propaganda LGBT yang berlaku secara nasional. Undang-Undang dimaksudkan melarang LGBT melakukan kampanye di ruang publik dan apabila terbukti melakukan propaganda akan didenda 5.000 rubel (US$ 170).
dengan mengenakan atribut warna-warna bendera pelangi sebagai lambangkan kesetaraan dan juga kebanggaan LGBT para aktifis membawa spanduk menuntut kesetaraan dan hak.
Gay di Saint Petersburg Russia ini dipimpin oleh seorang yang bernama Yury. Ia menyatakan bahwa sebenarnya lebih dari 17 aktivis gay ditangkap. Seorang juru bicara kepolisian Rusia membenarkan penangkapan tersebut, tetapi menolak untuk mengatakan berapa banyak aktivis gay yang telah ditangkap.
Para pengacara HAM Rusia pun segera turun tangan dan akan benar-benar memperhatikan pelaksanaan hukum yang baru tersebut. Mereka berpendapat bahwa pemerintah hanya memaksakan hukum untuk menarik dukungan publik. Seperti diketahui, hak-hak gay dan lesbian tetap sesuatu yang tabu di Rusia. Tidak hanya itu, pelaku homoseksual bahkan dipidana dan dipenjara di Uni Soviet.(Deb / Deb)
sumber : http://jaringnews.com
photo : http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Russian police have arrested 17 gay rights activists at a May Day rally in St Petersburg.
Members of the group were detained while trying to unfurl rainbow flags at a rally organised by opposition groups, activists said. Police said they were to be charged with failing to co-operate with officers.
“The first activists who unfurled their flags were detained. Some tried to raise posters, they were also detained,” said Yury Gavrikov, a local gay rights leader. “Two police officers would grab each person, with no warning.”
In March, St Petersburg became the fourth city in Russia to adopt a vaguely phrased law banning “homosexual propaganda” among minors. Activists believe it is a means of cracking down on gay rights.
Last week, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s third largest city, adopted a similar law. Politicians have proposed passing it at a federal level.
Activists have decried the law as a throwback to Soviet times, when homosexuality was banned. It is being promoted by the ultra-conservative Orthodox church, whose influence has grown since Vladimir Putin began facing challenges to his rule last December.
Gavrikov said: “The point of the law wasn’t to repress people. It was created for the same reasons the atom bomb was developed during the cold war – as a means of political pressure.
“This new law is the same, it creates political, psychological pressure and creates a group of second-class citizens.”
More than 30,000 people took part in the city’s May Day celebrations, officials said. The rally was led by the ruling United Russia party, but also included representatives of the Communist party and nationalist groups.
source : http://www.guardian.co.uk
