Voronezh organizers of the picket against homophobic law appealed to the police

January 17, 2013 organizers of the picket against the law on amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences (Article 6.13.1) have applied to the center "E" (anti-extremism center), the Investigative Committee and the Administration of Voronezh city on the fact of threats to life and health of the protesters and counteraction to the public event.

January 17, 2013 organizers of the picket against the law on amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences (Article 6.13.1) have applied to the center "E" (anti-extremism center), the Investigative Committee and the Administration of Voronezh city on the fact of threats to life and health of the protesters and counteraction to the public event.

After it had become known about the reconciling of the picket, the organizers received threats and statement that event would be broken by neonazis and orthodox radicals.

One of the threats was: "I’ll be there. I will come and kill you. When it is over and you go home, I catch and smash head to one of you".

Such texts were received in dozens. Here are some of them: "On 20th we will kill you", "I will come to it personally to kick you by my feet)))", "20.01.2013 in 14-15.00 you’ll die", etc. In addition to public calls to violence, death threats came personally to the organizers and potential participants.

An opponent of the picket posted: "If you visit this action, you will be able to beat them", followed by a reference to the event organizers and the accounts of other participants.

"For reasons which are not fully clear I also got into this list. It doesn’t matter was I considered as a gay. Now I’m going to picket against homophobic law, although I did not intend before. Near the monument to Nikitin it’s clear nothing radical will happen, but before and after everything could be. I want you to know the background of this issue, if something happens",- Voronezh journalist Leonid Didenko, who got into the list, wrotes.

Alexei Kozlov (ECOSOCIS Foundation) commented: "We expect the police and city officials will take all possible efforts to ensure the safety of the picket and to punish involved in the preparation of picket failure, incitement to violence, death threats of the organizers and participants. They received all the necessary materials. The Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Voronezh region are informed on the situation".

It is worth to note that the news that have been published in some local media, that the gay parade will be held in the city, are not true. Participants of the picket are going to protest against the adoption of Article 6.13.1, establishing the administrative responsibility for the so-called "promotion of homosexuality among minors" and fines up to half a million rubles. Organizers of the picket say that such legislative rule violates fundamental human rights, the Constitution and the international obligations of the Russian Federation. Against the law were many media persons, human rights activists, journalists and public figures.

In particular, the prime minister Dmitry Medvedev in an interview said: "Not all moral issues, not all behavioral patterns, not all of the issues of communication between people should be to turn to the law. Because not all relationships between people are amenable to regulation in the law".

January 22, 2013 the State Duma will consider a law at the federal level.

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