Alekseyev v. Russia is a case before the European Court of Human Rights concerning the prohibition of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Moscow Pride gay rights marches in Russia's capital. The case was brought by Russian LGBT activist Nikolay Alexeyev, organiser of the marches, who claimed the banning of the marches had violated Article 11 (freedom of assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights. He claimed furthermore that he had not received an effective remedy under Article 13 against the violation of Article 11, and that he had been discriminated against by the authorities in Moscow under Article 14 in their consideration of his applications to hold the marches.
The First Section of the Court, sitting as a Chamber, found unanimously that there had been violations of Articles 11, 13 and 14 of the Convention. Their judgment was issued on 21 October 2010 and a referral by the Russian government to the Grand Chamber of the Court rejected on 11 April 2011, at which point the judgment became final.
Background
The Applicant, Nikolay Alexeyev (spelt by the Court, Alekseyev), born 23 December 1977 in Moscow, is a Russian LGBT rights activist, lawyer and journalist.
Events in 2006
In 2006, the Applicant along with several others began organising a march in Moscow, the capital of Russia, to demonstrate against discrimination against LGBT people in Russia. The march was to be held on 27 May that year, the anniversary of the legalisation of homosexuality in Russia. On 16 February, a statement was released by the Mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, stating that any proposed LGBT rights march would not be permitted to go ahead.
Notice was given by the organisers of the march to the Mayor on 15 May 2006, that around two thousand people were expected to participate in a march from the Moscow Post Office along Myasnitskaya Street to Lubyanka Square, on 27 May starting at 3pm and lasting until 5pm. On 18 May, the organisers were informed that the Mayor had refused permission for the march on grounds of public order, for the prevention of riots and the protection of health, morals and the rights and freedoms of others.
The organisers submitted an alternative application involving only a picket in Lubyanka Square and also appealed the original refusal to a judge, however both were unsuccessful.
On 27 May 2006, when the march was intended to have been held, the Applicant along with several others attended a conference in honour of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which had been on 17 May. The announced their intention of go to the Alexander Garden along the Western length of the Kremlin Wall, and lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as an act of remembrance to victims of fascism, including LGBT victims. They intended to follow this with a protest against the banning of the march with a fifteen-minute picket at the office of the Mayor of Moscow on Tverskaya Street. When the Applicant and fifteen others arrived at the Garden, they found the gates locked and some hundred and fifty policemen from the OMON riot police unit patrolling, as well as around one hundred individuals protesting against the planned flower-laying. The Applicant was arrested and the other demonstrators proceeded to the Mayor's office. Around one hundred arrests were made by the OMON police officers of people attacking the LGBT demonstrators. The Applicant's account of events on this day was corroborated by reports from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) and Human Rights Watch.
Events in 2007
On 15 May 2007, the Applicant and other individuals submitted another application to the Mayor's office to hold a similar march to that proposed the year before, this time with an estimated attendance of five thousand one hundred people. This application was refused, and an alternative submitted proposing a picket before the Mayor's residence in Tverskaya Street and another in Novopushkinskiy Park, both of which were denied. On 27 May, the Applicant along with around twenty others attempted to deliver a petition against the prohibition of demonstration to the Mayor's office, but was detained by police along with two other men. He was convicted of the administrative offence of disobeying a lawful order from the police and fined one thousand roubles.