29.10.2014
On October 28, “Coming Out” LGBT Group sent a letter concerning homophobic attack on a lesbian couple a week ago, was sent to the St. Petersburg Ombudsman. The activists asked to ensure a comprehensive investigation of the incident. Besides, the survivors themselves complained about the inaction of the police to the District Prosecutor’s office.
In the night from 19th to 20th October, in a street at the Moskovsky District of St. Petersburg, two unidentified men attacked a lesbian couple. The girls returned home by the last train. The men noticed the couple even on the escalator, where the girls kissed and held hands, and then followed them. One of the men attacked from behind and began to beat the two girls in the face, head and body. Another man shot what was happening on a mobile phone camera. The attack was accompanied by homophobic shouts and insults (such as “fucking lesbians” or “no LGBT!”). Leaving the scene, one of the men threatened the girls that would kill them, if they meet again.
The day after the attack, the girls went to the police reporting about the attack and threats. However, police has not opened a criminal case yet, and did not inform the couple about any investigation.
“I just want not to be afraid to hold the hand of my loved one,” says one of the survivors.
Kseniya Kirichenko, Strategic Litigation and International Advocacy Program Coordinator at “Coming Out” LGBT Group, explains that “the number of homophobic attacks against LGBT people has risen in the city. And these attacks are committed not only against public activists, but also against ordinary people. The attackers do not like, for example, the clothing of the survivors, or the ordinary behavior of the couple. Six months ago we were contacted by another female couple who were beaten by a man at a subway station. The attacker explained his actions by the fact that the girls were not wearing skirts. At the same time, the specificity of hate crimes is a signal sent by attackers not to an individual but to the society as a whole. The next affected by such violence may be anyone of you. It is therefore particularly important that the police responded promptly to every case and conducted an effective investigation of hate crimes.”
“Coming Out” LGBT Group provides legal support for victims and will seek an opening of criminal case on the fact of attacks and carrying out of the effective investigation with a specific attention to homophobic motive of the attack.