CHISINAU. June 15 (Interfax) - Believers trying to stop a Pride Parade in Chisinau on Sunday clashed with the police.
The Pride Parade participants intended to take the traditional route approved by the authorities in the previous years, but the Chisinau Municipal Council banned the parade this time. The State Chancellery demanded that the decision be cancelled as unlawful, but Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban refused to do so. About 600 people took part in the parade nonetheless.
As in the previous years, Orthodox activists tried to stop the parade. They headed towards the parade with religious chants, icons and banners but were stopped by the police to prevent possible clashes. The believers, including a priest and a man with a child in his arms, tried to break through the police cordons. The police immobilized the man, took the child, and threw the priest to the ground. Several people from among the Orthodox activists were detained. The exact number of detainees is still unknown.
Later that day, the Party of Socialists held a march in another part of the city to support family values. The march began near the Academy of Economic Studies and ended near the Metropolitan Cathedral with a rally in support of family. It involved parliament members from the bloc of Communists and Socialists and other leftist parties. No incidents happened during the event.
As Interfax reported earlier, the Chisinau Municipal Council banned pride parades in mid-May by 27 votes out of 51.
In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court upheld a Justice Ministry motion to bang and designate extremist the LGBT international movement in Russia.