The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared that the Russian authorities had violated the rights of LGBT activists in more than 60 cities, but did not award material compensation to the initiators of the prides. The judges drew attention to the fact that Alexeyev had insulted them in social networks. The ECHR issued the official release on January 16.
The ECHR recognized 77 refusals to negotiate LGBT prides the violation of the rights of LGBT activists to freedom to gather. Including applications for actions in Kostroma and the region, Arkhangelsk and Pomorye, Cheboksary, Yoshkar-Ola, Cherepovets, Moscow, Tambov, Lipetsk, Smolensk, Ryazan and other cities.
The Russian authorities drew the attention of the judges to the fact that Nikolai Alexeyev, the author of the complaints, insulted the judges of the ECHR in his social networks, and they agreed that the activist had expressed disrespect to them as widely as possible, but still decided to consider his complaints objectively. The ECHR additionally mentioned that the activist could have abused the right when traveling around the country's cities, submitting notifications about LGBT actions everywhere.
According to the court, the authorities' bans on LGBT events were not justified:
"The court also considers that the applicant suffered from unjustified discrimination based on sexual orientation," the ECHR wrote.
Alexeyev himself, who was called the "main gay man of the country" by a number of media, wrote on vk.com that he would continue his campaign for the right to LGBT prides:
"I have traveled all over Russia and created the whole thing from beginning to end... The three-judge committee was selected with particular care. An insulted Slovakian woman who had opposed me twice, a judge from Russia [Dmitry Dedov], and a judge from San Marino who joined them... And you say — Themis with her eyes closed... The last actions of the ECHR are nothing but the person being bullied. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with the complete victory over the illegality of all gay pride parades’ bans, and have begun to understand only by now how smart it was to file complaints from several activists at once. There are still hundreds of similar cases ahead, although the ECHR, in fact, recognized that it is not able to do anything to change the situation, proclaiming the demise of the right to freedom to gather for LGBT people in Russia."
In 2018, the ECHR arrived at a similar decision on Alexeyev's complaints, recognizing the violation of LGBT rights, but awarding no compensation.
Alexeyev has been giving notices for LGBT prides in various cities in the country for the past few years. In some cases, e.g. in Yoshkar-Ola, the authorities allowed a rally in a remote village, Alexeyev accepted this site, but the agreement was hastily withdrawn.
