Pride in London is leading a protest close to the Russian embassy in London tomorrow, Wednesday, April 12 at 5.30pm.
The protest is in response to recent media reports of gay men being arbitrarily detained and killed in Chechnya with some citing a concentration camp being set up in the Chechen town of Argun.
It protest follows an open letter sent from Pride in London to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on April 4.
The protest will take place at the junction of Bayswater Road and Ossington Street. The Metropolitan Police will be present to ensure the protest is peaceful and safe.
Steve Taylor, Communications Director for European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA), said: “More government action across the EU needs to be taken immediately to stop these atrocities. We are seeing very little response to this in the mainstream media and government action so far is poor. We must not be bystanders and we must challenge this inhumanity.”
The organisers are calling on as many people as possible to attend and to bring banners and flags.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “These reports from Chechnya are truly horrifying, and represent an extreme manifestation of increasing homophobic brutality and intolerance in Putin’s Russia.
“The UK government must strongly condemn this disgusting violence, and use every possibly opportunity to raise this with the Russian government, as well as in the UN and other international bodies.
“The UK must work with those who share our values to stop the mindless targeting of the LGBT community, which is still prevalent in too many countries across the world. Only through defending universal human rights will we ever hope to achieve a world in which every person can live, work and flourish without discrimination.
“It is disappointing that Boris Johnson has failed to stand up for these people by not visiting Russia after Trump told him to stay at home.”
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