MOSCOW, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Europe's human rights court said on Thursday it had fined Russia for breaching the rights of gays by banning gay parades in Moscow.
Gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev lodged cases with the European Court of Human Rights arguing Russia had violated the European Convention, to which it subscribes by being a member state of the Council of Europe.
The court ruled that Russia had violated rights of assembly and had discriminated based on sexual orientation. It ordered Russia to pay 29,510 Euros ($41,090) to Alexeyev in damages and for legal fees.
"The mere risk of a demonstration creating a disturbance was not sufficient to justify its ban," the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights said in a statement.
