They came under sustained attack soon after setting off. Police held meetings with event organisers to try and dissuade them from holding the event but eventually agreed to protect the march, at a meeting on Friday 5 June.įor safety reasons the route of the march was kept secret until the last moment and the march set off at 10am with more than 250 marchers. This year there were again threats from the radical right-wing groups, Svoboda and Pravyi Sektor. In 20 Pride marches in Kyiv were cancelled at the last moment after the police told the organizing committee that they could not ensure the safety of participants following threats. Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia. It is vital that the authorities investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence and ensure that they do more to protect members of the LGBTI community from attack in the future. “It is vital that the authorities investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence and ensure that they do more to protect members of the LGBTI community from attack in the future.” Had more time been spent planning and coordinating, some of these injuries might have been avoided,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia. Instead of responding to violent threats by taking steps to ensure marchers would be safe, the police only took the decision to provide protection to the march yesterday.
“The homophobic violence which soiled the streets of Kyiv today was ugly and action should have been taken in advance to try and prevent it.
At least five police were also injured, one seriously. Lack of coordination with the event organisers and the failure to put an evacuation plan in place meant that, despite the presence of at least 1,500 police and national guard soldiers, about 10 protesters were injured when they were attacked by homophobic protesters. JUkraine: Homophobic violence mars gay pride rally in Kyivĭespite efforts by police today, Ukrainian authorities should have done more in advance to prevent violent attacks against gay Pride marchers several of whom were injured today, Amnesty International said.