The activists were dragged to the ground and into police cars near Sokolniki metro station even though they had the necessary permits.
The Queer Russia website reported that police started checking the documents of the activists 10-15 minutes after the protest started. They said the real purpose of the protest did not match their declared one.
After a protracted argument, the activists agreed to stop the protest and took down their posters but another patrol arrived and arrested them. Dima Svetliy told the Washington Blade, 'Police officers asked the organizer to get into the (police) car. 'We understood that we were now screwed.'
Nikolai Baev said, 'They were criminal policemen, who watched the rally and waited for the moment to detain the participants. 'This is a common practice in Putin’s country; a lot of police agents watch all rallies in Moscow.'
One witness told LGBTI group Rainbow Association, 'The crowd was behaving very aggressively, there were a lot of homophobic shouting's. It was disgusting.' The activists were taken to a police station and released three hours later at 7pm.
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