The interim Prosecutor General Raimondas Petrauskas (pictured above) and member of Kaunas city council Stanislovas Buškevičius tendered an official complaint to the court on Tuesday asking them to suspend the city permit for Saturday's parade for fear of attacks on the participants.
VILNIUS — The Vilnius Regional Administrative Court has ruled to suspend the permit given to the Baltic Pride gay parade organizers, meaning that the parade is no longer legally sanctioned by the Vilnius municipality.
The mayor of Vilnius Vilius Navickas went against other conservative politicians and gave the Baltic Pride organizers the right to parade in the city. The parade has seen intense opposition from politicians and conservative interest groups.
The standing Prosecutor General Raimondas Petrauskas and member of Kaunas city council Stanislovas Buškevičius tendered an official complaint to the court asking them to suspend the parade for fear of attacks on the participants.
“We have reason to believe that the state will not be able to provide proper protection for the participants,” the submission said.
The court found on May 5 at midday that there was sufficient grounds to believe that police could not guarantee the safety of participants and therefore suspended permission to hold the parade.
Vilnius has seen several anti-gay protests over the past few years.
“We are not against gay parade, but we have received the information that it might be difficult to ensure public safety. We have written a letter to the organizers of the parade, saying that we have no purpose to ban the rally. We just think that there will be troubles during the event,” Petrauskas told Alfa.lt.
Authorities have speculated that far-right skinhead groups may attempt to break up the parade with violence. Meanwhile Vilnius has seen several anti-gay demonstrations over the past year, showcasing the country’s Catholic conservatism.
“We are a European country, and we act according to the European laws, of course we are not against gender equality, but we have to have in mind the dangers. This parade is like a red rag for a bull,” the prosecutor told the Baltic News Service.
“I can’t say firmly, that there will be a riot. I am not against the parade, let them hold it, and that will happen sooner or later, and we have to conciliate with this, to get used to this, to accept it, but when the economy is in bad situation, there are lots of unemployed workers, and it’s very easy to provoke disorder,” the prosecutor said.
The fear of violence has been used to stop gay rallies in the past. In 2007 the Vilnius city council unanimously barred an EU-sponsored tolerance of minorities rally from taking place, citing fears that anti-gay protesters may become violent.
President “astounded”
President Dalia Grybauskaitė said she was shocked by the decision and questioned why different authorities were contradicting each other.
“The president is astounded by the miscommunication between the relevant departments to jointly assess the risks. Surprising is the fact that the police claim that they are ready to ensure safety, but the Acting Prosecutor General sees a threat,” the president’s spokesman Linas Balsys told BNS.
Grybauskaitė cited the constitution, which says that people have the right to meet in peaceful gatherings.
“The agencies responsible for public order, particularly the police, must ensure peace and avoid conflict. The constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. If a citizens’ groups or organization is not banned by law, they have the right to express their opinion,” Balsys said.
Other events in the Baltic Pride program, such as the tolerance film festival and various other meetings will still go ahead as planned.
In the closet
Lithuanians are the least aware of homosexual people in their families or circle of acquaintances in the European Union. According to a Eurobarometer survey released in November, some 93 percent of Lithuanians are unaware of the existence of gay people living in their community. The EU average is 38 percent being aware of gay people in the community.
The head of the pro-LGBT advocacy group Tolerant Youth Association Artūras Rudomanskis told Baltic Reports that widespread homophobia is to blame.
“Many politicians don’t fight homophobia and some even increase it more … there are also some homophobic groups like religious groups and concerned people who are trying to increase homophobia,” Rudomanskis said.
“They are not ready to talk about that — there is no chance to hear about it in schools and there are no lessons about that and if there are some it is homophobic,” he added.
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Lithuania never will be better country until you don’t open to Western Europe, especially socially.
I have just cancelled my travel to Lithuania. I will never visit such a biggoted country.
Lithuania: Unfortunately still a banana republic……..
Lithuania has every right not to allow this. Get it through your heads- Lithuania will not bow down to every suicidal liberal group like Western Europe and will be better off for it. If you think this is not a place for you- don’t visit. Your countries are rotting from the inside. We will not let this happen here.
Lithuania is a fascist state. They allow neo-Nazis/skinheads to profit from violence.
I’m confused as to why a Kanuas city councilman would know more about the police capabilities in Vilnius than the police in Vilnius.
Actually, I’m not. The Catholic Church of Lithuania and the anti-Gay members of the Seimas are using fascist violence that they support to illegally deny minorities the right to assemble on the streets of Vilnius.
If Lithuania cannot police its own streets or allow peaceful protersters to assemble in their capital city, then they need to be section 7ed out of the EU.
Fascism. Alive and well in Catholic Lithuania.
you cancelled!, you don’t want to come and visit hundreds of churches?
there are masses three times a day in most of them you know.
and if you bring your wife there will be no problem beating her up once you are very drunk.
are you sure you don’t want to come?
Tom and Mat. You are both either very ignorant or completely uninformed.
Get a life- both of you.
Aleksas.
Your nation is a failure as a democracy. It is a failure as an economy. It is a failure period. It is apparently overrun by violent skinhead gangs who work with the support and encouragement of the court and the Catholic Church of Lithuania. Otherwise, minorities wouldn’t be de facto banned from public protests on the streets of your capital city. Apparently, the Lithuanian courts have admitted that Lithuania cannot police its own streets.
They should be section 7ed by the EU, have their subsidies withdrawn and have all of their expatriates working in the EU to have to return back to Lithuania. If Lithuania can violate (as they are doing here) their EU agreements, then I guess that no other nation should have to pay for Lithuania or host them as workers.
The EU. Our money. Our workvisas. Our values. You can’t pick and choose. Either Gay pride parades on Summer Saturday afternoons in front of Catholic Churches in Central Vilnius and Kanuas or you will lose.
We will be suing your nation in the EU and Eurocourt. And you will lose. I think we need to have Gay pride parade attemps every Saturday this summer so that we can keep on suing you guys over and over. We’re gonna treat you as punk ATM.
Aleksas,
There is a solution. Lithuania can withdraw from the EU and bring all of its workers home. Perhaps it can join up with other fascist, unfree, corrupt, like minded nations like Belarus, Russia, and Iran!
Lithuania. Today’s fascist Europe.
You obviously have a major problem with the Catholic church. Vent your anger somewhere else.
You are a homosexual fascist. This is quite obvious after reading your last sentence.
Tom, why in the world would you want to expel a country from the EU for social reasons?! The EU is an economic union, not a social one. If you’re so intolerant of homophobes, maybe you’re the bigot.
My Lithuanian American family were never homophobic and never remember any negative comments about homosexuals. Could there be an intolerant political or cultural attitude left over from the Soviet occupation of Lithuania?