Lithuania’s second largest city has experienced its first LGBTQ+ pride event with more than 2 000 participants. Aggressive people with different views also gathered and after scuffles and clashes, police detained 22 people and launched five pre-trial investigations, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reports.
Kaunas police detained 22 people during the Kaunas Pride event in Lithuania’s second largest city on Saturday, September 4. The authorities have now launched five pre-trial investigations, including one into incitement to hatred.
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The Police stated on Sunday, September 5, that a person was detained for filming and approaching the event’s participants and inciting hatred by swearing, insulting, and mocking them. Two people were also injured in an incident that took place around 15:00 on Saturday after the march had finished. A smoke cartridge was thrown into the hood of one man’s jacket, while the other man was hit.
A person, born in 1992, was detained, according to the police. On Saturday, over 2,000 people gathered for the first LGBTQ+ pride event in Kaunas. Scuffles break out with counter-protesters, who blocked the path along Laisvės Avenue, threw eggs, hurled insults at the LGBTQ+ community, and clashed with the police.
The article originally appeared on LRT English: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1488556/police-launch-five-probes-after-kaunas-pride-including-incitement-to-hatred
Kaunas Pride ends with arrests and pre-trial investigations
