Moscow Court Refuses To Try Pussy Riot Member For Joining Anti-Homophobia Rally

A court in Moscow has refused to look into a case brought by police against a member of the well-known Pussy Riot protest group who was detained over his participation in an anti-homophobia rally on President Vladimir Putin’s birthday last week.

The Tver district court late on October 14 said it was sending the case against Temuuzhin Sambuudavaagiyn back to the police.

Sambudavaagiyn was detained a day earlier and charged with the “repeated violation of regulations for holding public events,” for which he could face up to 30 days in jail if found guilty.

Sambudavaagiyn took part in Pussy Riot’s action against “state homophobic policies” on October 7, Putin’s 68th birthday.

The group placed LGBT rainbow flags on the buildings of the Federal Security Service, presidential administration, the Supreme Court, a police headquarters in Moscow’s district, and Culture Ministry,

The group demanded Putin investigate the abductions and torture of gays in Chechnya, stop the persecution of LGTB rights defenders, legalize same-gender partnerships, and cancel the controversial law on so-called nontraditional sexual relations among minors.

Several members of the groups were detained after the action, one of whom, Aleksandr Sofeyev, was sentenced to 30 days in jail on October 9.

Two journalists, Denis Styazhkin and an RFE/RL correspondent Artyom Radygin, were briefly detained by police while covering the demonstration.

Based on reporting by Interfax and Ekho Moskvy