The work of the officers during the protest got in the way of the LGBT representatives: they do not promise to leave everything like this

“We will write a letter to the police. This is a claim for their failure to act. We will ask you to start a service check. (…) There will be a letter to Požela and we will attach a copy to Bilotaita”, V. Simonko said to Eltai on Friday.

“The police calculated where 100 meters from the Seimas ends, showed where I can extend the flag – it seems that this was the main task. And the fact that (a group of people – ELTA) came and ruined my event, for which I have a permit – the police were not interested in that,” emphasized the head of LGL.

According to V. Simonkos, the hostile persons who appeared at the event organized by the LGL at the Seimas on Thursday obstructed the protest, damaged the organization’s property, and also made insulting remarks, but the officers did not stop the counter-protest.

“I felt an unsafe space. As far as the Baltic Pride marches we did – everything went well, especially in 2022 we had a good relationship with the police. I do not know what happened. Now I’m thinking what should I do with other public events – hire private security? Probably so, because the police do not protect me”, said V. Simonko and noted that he suffered psychological trauma due to the actions of some individuals.

“I suffered psychological trauma when I was persecuted because of my orientation and nationality. That Cellophane – after all, he screamed that I was Ukrainian and that I had to leave the country. And it happened in front of the Seimas”, said the head of LGL.

Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, member of the Seimas, chairman of the Human Rights Committee, has already applied to the police and the Minister of Internal Affairs with a request to start an official inspection.

“I appealed, (…) because I think that during the event yesterday, the provisions of the assembly law were not observed and the officials did not ensure the organizers of the assembly to exercise the right to peaceful assemblies,” TV Raskevičius told Eltai.

“I asked to start an official inspection and to inform me personally about its results,” he noted.

The parliamentarian admits that he did not participate in the LGL protest himself, but he claims to have seen videos of the gathering in the media and social networks.

“From the material that I have seen, the police did not provide opportunities (for a peaceful assembly – ELTA), despite the fact that the organizers and participants made several public appeals to the police officers, asking for permission to continue with that rally. And the police did nothing and ignored it,” noted TV Raskevičius.

“I don’t understand – is this a state of law or a state of cellophane?” – a member of the Seimas asked a rhetorical question.

ELTA reminds that several dozen LGL representatives gathered on Thursday to protest the provision still in the Lithuanian legal framework, which stipulates that information about the LGBT community has a negative impact on minors.

During the protest, the officers of the Chief Police Commissariat of Vilnius County (VPK) recorded one incident – it was recorded how the participants of the rally crossed the real LGBT flag on the ground. As Julia Samorokovskaja, a representative of the Vilnius County VPK, told Eltai, an investigation is being conducted into the incident.

A pro-Russian activist also participated in the rally Laurynas RagelskisAntanas Kandrotas, nicknamed Celofanas, carrying the Lithuanian flag, as well as Seimas member Petras Gražulis, are accused in the case of the riots near the Seimas.

The latter persons were captured by journalists walking through the LGBT flag.