A Lithuanian court has suspended permission for this weekend's Baltic Pride parade, citing security concerns. Baltic Times reports General Prosecutor Raimondas Petrauskas convinced the Vilnius district court to ban the parade, despite a statement from the police force earlier this week that they would be able to control any protests. The court has agreed to suspend the license for the parade until a full hearing can take place, but this hearing is not expected to take place until after the scheduled parade date. Amnesty International has slammed the move, saying the Attorney General's application is an abuse of the legal process and will result in the violation of human rights. Petrauskas denies the decision is down to homophobia. "Whose fault would it be if anyone gets hurt? It might look like we are homophobic, but I am not sure if we'd look better with pictures of violence on TV." He adds he has received information that several extremist groups were planning to protest against the march.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 7th May 2010 - 2:28pm