Russia Gay Pride Parade Organizer Jailed: Nikolai Alexeyev Dealt 10-Day Sentence For 'Disobeying Police Orders'

RTR4Y4HG — Police detained Nikolai Alexeyev (center), a gay rights activist, during an LGBT community rally in central Moscow, May 30, 2015. Alexeyev was handed a 10-day jail sentence Monday. Reuters

The driving force behind a gay pride parade last weekend in Moscow was sentenced to 10 days in jail by a city court Monday, the Moscow Times reported. Nikolai Alexeyev, a well-known LGBT activist in Russia, reportedly received the sentence for "disobeying police orders" after he organized a gay pride parade in Moscow Saturday.

Alexeyev was arrested Saturday along with about half a dozen activists at an unauthorized parade on Tverskaya Street across from the mayor's office, Agence France-Presse reported. The news service said police loaded them into vans as counterdemonstrators threw eggs and attacked the activists.

Alexeyev has held the parade for 10 straight years despite a ban by city officials, the Moscow Times said. He tweeted after his arrest it was a rough ordeal and he had been hurt in the process. Alexeyev, who has reportedly been arrested several times for similar unsanctioned events, tweeted the day had brought, "The most brutal arrest at Moscow Pride ever!"

The most brutal arrest at Moscow Pride ever! Probably broke my finger...
— Nikolai Alexeyev (@n_alexeyev) May 30, 2015

Arrested and beaten at 10th Moscow Pride. We are arrested! They probably broke my left hand finger. https://t.co/1FWDCEuS5a
— Nikolai Alexeyev (@n_alexeyev) May 30, 2015

Alexeyev had a bloody hand upon entering the police van Saturday. Some of the anti-gay activists were arrested as well, the Moscow Times said. Nationalist groups and religious activists composed a portion of those protesting against the gay pride activists, saying they were in attendance to help police.

"We found out that today the LGBT community was planning to hold an unsanctioned rally and we wanted to help the law enforcement agencies stop it," Dmitry Enteo, head of a nationalist group called "God's Will," told AFP. "These are heinous anti-Christian values. We don't want the Dead Sea to wipe away our beautiful city as it did to the ancient town of Sodom." AFP reported Enteo was later detained.

Russia has been subject to considerable criticism for its treatment of LGBT people. In 2013 the country passed a law that banned so-called gay propaganda, making it illegal to equate gay and straight relationships or to distribute gay rights materials.

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