Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
A Russian lawyer has vowed to take his client’s case to the European Court of Human Rights after the trans woman was arrested during a protest and locked up in a men’s cell.
Trans activist Polina Simonenko was arrested during a protest against amendments to the Family Code which restricts the rights of same-sex couples and transgender people.
Simonenko had failed to change her previous ID and a Moscow court upheld the decision to hold the activist in a male prison.
However, her lawyer Konstantin Boykov said that she did not have time to change her ID and documents and said she should not be held in a male-only detention centre.
He also vowed to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.
According to eyewitness Maria Milishevich, who was present at the hearing, Simonenko was struck on the nose and had her jacket torn by a police officer while leaving the court for a break.
The activist was detained on 20th July near Red Square during a protest against changes to the Family Code, announced by Senator Elena Mizulina, 65, on 14th July.
The recently amended Russian constitution now enshrines the concept of marriage as a ‘union between a man and a woman’ and bans the practice of marriages involving trans people.
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