ECtHR finds illegal a refusal to register LGBT organization in Sochi

Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has announced that it found to be discriminatory the refusal of the Russian authorities to register the "Sochi Pride House", an organization of LGBT activists.

The Strasbourg Court came to the conclusion that the Russian authorities had violated Article 6 (right to a fair trial), Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association), and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The ECtHR has indicated that the refusals to register organizations constitute discrimination "on the basis of sexual orientation," the Interfax reports.

The plaintiffs in the case "Zhdanov and Others vs. Russia" were Russian citizens Alexander Zhdanov, Nikolai Alekseev, Kirill Nepomnyaschy, and Alexander Naumchik. According to the decision published today on the ECtHR's website, the Strasbourg Court awarded Alexander Zhdanov the moral damage compensation in the amount of 10,000 euros, while Kirill Nepomnyaschy and Alexander Naumchik were awarded 13,000 euros each. The ECtHR did not include Nikolai Alekseev in the list of the persons who were awarded moral damages.

The founders of the public organization "Sochi Pride House" appealed to the Strasbourg Court on August 20, 2012. They filed a complaint about the refusal of the Russian authorities to register their organization. Earlier, The Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had refused to register the organization, in particular, because of the presence in its title of foreign words, to which Russian-language counterparts could be chosen, the "Yugopolis" reported on August 20, 2012.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 16, 2019 at 02:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.