CHISINAU, June 15. /TASS/. Police guarding an LGBT march (the movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) in Chisinau are using force to detain Orthodox believers who protested in defense of traditional values and the family.
A TASS correspondent saw several hundred believers, including clergymen, walking with icons and church banners. They tried to block the movement of the LGBT march, moving in front of them, but the police began to push them back, some were pinned down and taken away. During the clash, the guards knocked down several people, including clergymen and a man with a child in his arms. The incident was recorded by eyewitnesses on video, which was distributed on social networks by the participants of the protest action.
Law enforcement officials have not yet commented on the incident involving the use of force against a clergyman and believers.
The thousands-strong Family March, organized by the Party of Socialists, the Party of Communists, the Future of Moldova Party and other opposition groups, ended peacefully and without incident at the Cathedral in the center of Chisinau. It was attended by former Moldovan Presidents Igor Dodon and Vladimir Voronin, former Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev, members of parliament, politicians, public figures, and clergy.