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Two Injured In Attack On Gay-Rights Office In St. Petersburg


Gay rights activists organized a joint opposition rally dubbed a "March Against Hatred" in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg on November 2.
Gay rights activists organized a joint opposition rally dubbed a "March Against Hatred" in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg on November 2.
Amnesty International says Russian authorities must prosecute those behind a violent attack at a nongovernmental gay-rights office in St. Petersburg that left two people injured on November 3.

Amnesty said in a statement the next day that two masked men with air guns and baseball bats attacked LaSky, an NGO that supports gay people living with HIV.

The St. Petersburg Prosecutor-General's Office said it has opened an investigation into hooliganism.

Denis Krivosheev, Europe and Central Asia deputy director at Amnesty International, said the attack is "sadly characteristic of a widespread atmosphere of homophobia in Russia today."

The attack occurred during a weekly gathering of some 25-30 young people.

Amnesty said one of those injured lost sight in one eye as a result of the attack.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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