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Rainbow NewsA policeman promised to burn down the Rainbow flag seized during Olympics relay-race by the Russian Culture Minister
28 Oct. 2013
The local police brutally stopped every attempt of LGBT attributes' usage during the Olympics relay-race yesterday in Saint-Petersburg. Observers express concerns if the police would treat foreigners in Sochi the same way as they had done in Saint-Petersburg then it would turn out to be the international scandal. The Sochi Olympics will stumble upon the homophobia.
The prehistory is as follows: Activists of the Straight alliance for LGBT Equality welcomed the participants of the Olympics relay-race with Rainbow flags. The situation worsened when the Olympics torch was taken by Mr. Medinski, the Russian Culture minister, well-known for his gay hate statements. He had written a novel "The Wall" ("Stena") where he introduced himself as a fighter against alien Sodomites. Natasha Tsymbalova, the head of the Alliance, made a wish on the eve of the relay-race that the flame of the Olympics torch would die out in Medinski's hands. And her wish came true. Although that fact is not a surprise for anyone, the number of bad luck cases with the torches of the Sochi Olympics has beaten the Guinness record. As well as the actions of the local police are of no surprise...
What has happened? Firstly, according to Natasha Tsymbalova's post in her Vkontakte account, her national passport was torn by the police after her arrest. "We were caught by the police because we had unveiled Rainbow flags during Culture Minister torch race in front of the buildings of the Senate and the Synod. Kirill's Rainbow flag was seized by a policeman as soon as it had been taken out of the rucksack. I was in a different place (near the turn to the embankment) and I've managed to stand there with the Rainbow flag for half a minute. Then a man in the Olympics tracksuit attacked me and tried to seize the flag. But the policeman nearby did not respond to the call of that "sportsman" to catch me. So I defended my flag...", tells Tsymbalova.
Later she and other two activists were requested to proceed to the police station where they were kept in custody for three hours. The police filed down their explanations and even threatened them with a protocol for dropping a burning cigarette butt. "They talked with each of us individually. Kirill and Zhenya (activists) say that the police was rude with them. With me they were milder but also spoke about senselessness of our fight ("what are you fighting for?!"). In response I taught them about equal rights. They did not give back the flag to Zhenya and one of the policemen said that "he would change into civvies and then he personally would burn down that flag". Some sayings of the police: "I wish I could beat your face (to Zhenya)", "Debauch behind closed doors and do not seduce the youth!". Kirill was asked how much was he paid for it" and was called by the police as "rear-steer" and even was proposed to be cleared through criminal records on sex crimes.
For reference: A month ago a hard talk between the Russian Government and the IOC officials as well as the authorities of the great sports powers had taken place on the issue of the enforcement of the scandalous Putin's law on the ban of the so-called "propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation" to minors during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Everyone was interested what would be done to foreigners and sportsmen (women) who would dare to use LGBT attributes. Although the Russian authorities have made some assertions and given warranties that these people would be protected but up to now they could not give a clear answer whether the Rainbow flag was a "homopropaganda" or a political action that had been banned by Putin's special decree on elevated security measures during the Olympics. And now the police of the Northern Russian capital knows the answer already - yesterday they have demonstrated it worldwide...
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