Moscow gay pride organisers complain about ban to European court

Moscow gay pride parade organisers have complained to the European Court of Human Rights about the ban on the 2009 parade. Moscow’s Mayor Luzhkow has previously labelled the parade “satanic” and the case follows a number of unsuccessful appeals against the bans in the Russian court system. Moscow Pride are seeking €200,000 in damages from the Russian Federation. The Strasbourg court has given Russian authorities ten days to lay out their position on the ban.

Russian internet provider admits blocking websites

Claims of internet censorship have spread amongst the Russian blogosphere after the wireless internet service provider, Yota, admitted blocking access to certain websites. Denis Sverdlov, chief executive of WiMax operator Skartel, which runs the Yota brand, acknowledged that Yota blocks access to sites that are classified as extremist by the Justice Ministry. “This strongly smells of political censorship,” said Denis Bilunov, a senior member of Kasparov’s Other Russia movement. He said the most likely explanation was Russian Technologies’ involvement in the company. Read more here