The International Lesbian and Gay Association -Europe has issued a powerful statement condemning last week’s happenings in Moldova.

Last week, the mayor of Chisnau, the capital, banned the gay pride parade that was supposed to happen on Sunday, contradicting European and Moldovan laws. When queer people went to protest and celebrate in defiance of the ban, the bus they were riding was surrounded by far right religious extremists and fascists alike and was not allowed to move for a couple of hours. While the police sat back and watched, the aggressors hurled things at the bus, tried to storm it, and continuously yelled profanities at the people on the bus. 

Here are excerpts from ILGA-E’s spokesperson Juris Lavrikovs, speaking from Brussels:

“ILGA-Europe is appalled by what happened last Sunday in Chisinau. 

“We condemn the decision of the Mayor of Chisinau to ban a peaceful manifestation by LGBT people in support of anti-discrimination legislation in Moldova.  His action is illegal and contradicts both the decision of the Supreme Court of Moldova and the decision of the European Court of Human Rights.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are entitled to the same rights to peaceful assembly, association and expression as any other individuals and the city of Chisinau has denied these rights to LGBT people for 7 years.”

And turning to the fiasco in the streets of Chisinau when mobs ‘hijacked’ a bus carrying participants to the Pride, Mr. Lavrikovs said:

“Even more worrying is complete inactivity by the Moldovan police who just observed how the aggressive homophobic mobs attacked the participants of LGBT manifestations, did not interfere and refused numerous calls for protection by LGBT activists stranded in the bus.

“These are grave human rights violations committed by the Moldovan authorities.

“We call upon the European institutions to seriously review the last weekend’s incidents and use various pressure tools available at their disposal to ensure Moldova respects fundamental human rights for LGBT people and complies with the case law established by the European Court of Human Rights, he said.

Source: UKGayNews