Choi Beaten, Arrested in Russia
Posted on Advocate.com May 28, 2011
By Michelle Garcia
Army veteran and gay activist Dan Choi, Chicago activist Any Thayer were among at least 18 people who were mobbed at a gay pride parade in Moscow by police and a group of Neo-Nazis on Saturday.
Video of the attack was posted on AmericaBlog, in which Choi and Thayer are walking quietly, when a mob of uniformed and undercover police attack them. According to British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, the arrests took place between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Moscow time.
Choi and seven others were carted off to Presnensky Police Station in Moscow after the attack. He and the other foreign protesters were released without a charge or fine, but the Russians will have to remain overnight. Tatchell said that neither of the lead organizers, Nikolai Alekseev nor Nikolai Baev were arrested, and it is unclear if Alekseev actually participated in the protest since he was badly injured Thursday from a fall.
"Anna Komarova, who is under arrest, reports being pressured by the police to give information about the organization of Moscow Gay Pride," said Tatchell, who was at the event. "The police are threatening to detain her for 48 hours unless she gives them the information they want."
Louis Georges-Tin, a French academic and founder of the International Day Against Homophobia was reportedly sent into isolation after singing Bizet's Toreador, as was Choi after yelling "Discriminatzya!" He added that foreign protesters were being treated better than Russian protesters by police, evident by the fact that they were allowed to retain their cell phones while locked up behind bars. The Russian demonstrators were Tim Magomedor, Alexy Kiselev, Elizaveta Nikitina, Alexander Shiriaev, and Andzey Zayziev, all in their mid-20s.
TAKE ACTION: US gay rights activist Fmr. Lt. Dan Choi, others beaten at Moscow gay pride. Choi asks you to co-sign open letter to Sec. Clinton
Posted on GayAmericaBlog.com May 28, 2011
By John Aravosis (DC)
UPDATE: We have just published an open letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signed by Dan Choi, asking her to speak out against this clear abuse of human rights in Moscow. Please add your signature to the letter - Dan will personally deliver it to the State Department when he returns to the states in a few days.
