17.03.2014
March 12 at 3 p.m. Vasileostrovsky district court of St. Petersburg held the first main hearing of the civil case on "foreign agents" brought in action by the Central District of St. Petersburg Prosecutor's Office VS the LGBT organization “Coming Out”.
The Prosecution petitions the court to compel “Coming Out” to join the roster of "foreign agents ". As a base for the petition the Prosecution has talked of the organization’s receiving foreign financial aid in 2012 - early 2013, and also points out that, in the Prosecution’s opinion, the organization has been involved in political activities during the same period. However, since the end of November 2013, there has been four pre-trial hearings, and, as of today, the Prosecutor's office has failed to provide evidence to support their case.
Vasileostrovsky District Court Judge Naidenova postponed meeting till April 16. The Prosecutor's office has been given a month to once again examine the circumstances of the case and to submit any evidence supporting their claim of the organization’s guilt.
«We have no intention of joining the roster, - commented the organization's activists – as we вщтже consider ourselves to be foreign agents. Yes, we openly oppose the homophobic policies of the current government, and our advocacy is supported by both Russian citizens and foreign funds, since human rights – are a universal value that does not know borders. But this does not mean that we are working on behalf of other states and are foreign agents. A”foreign agent” label on the organization would misinform the public, as our work is based solely on the needs of Russian LGBT whose interests we represent. »
Earlier, the Central District of St. Petersburg Prosecutor's office tried to bring the organization and its leader to administrative responsibility for operating without a “foreign agent label” in June-August 2013. However, the case was dismissed by the courts.
We remind you, that on March, 6 the Constitutional Court considered the complaint by the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation and a number of non-profit organizations on the law on "foreign agents". The court ruling on whether the law is constitutional is expected within a month.