Sochi city administration bans picket and march of LGBT community

The Sochi administration has prohibited the march and rally of activists of the LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) community in support of tolerance scheduled for September 26. During the Olympic Games in Sochi, rights of LGBT community will not be violated. This was stated on the same day by Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 24, in Sochi, the Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) started working. On September 26, following the visit, IOC officials praised the readiness of Sochi for the Winter Olympic Games.

The city administration has motivated its refusal to hold the action of the LGBT community by the fact that it can lead to violation of the federal law of the Russian Federation to ban the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors.

Nikolai Alekseev, an activist of the LGBT community, believes that the Sochi authorities have violated the Russian and international laws. According to his report, the authorities' decision to ban the actions will be challenged at the court.

After the final press conference of the IOC, Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Organizing Committee "Sochi-2014", has emphasized that he does not oppose holding events similar to those planned by the activists of the LGBT community, provided that the activists' actions do not conflict with the Russian laws and that the action is sanctioned at the Sochi administration.

It should be noted that on September 25, in Moscow, police detained ten activists of the LGBT community, who protested against discrimination, for their attempt to hold a picket near the building of the Organizing Committee of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.