Nikolai Baev and Irina Fet, organisers of Moscow Gay Pride were arrested on Monday by Russian police officers in the city of Ryazan, roughly 200 km southeast of Moscow.

According to UK Gay News, the pair were detained in the city centre and charged with the offence of “propaganda of homosexuality to minors”, a misdemeanour that also carries a hefty fine.

The two were later released from custody on the promise that they would appear in Court, which they did yesterday morning. The case was adjourned for a week so the police statements could be assessed.

Nikolai Baev and Irina Fet were part of a group of four activists – including Nikolai Alekseev and another local activist from Ryazan. The group were carrying several banners in the city centre, that is nearby a school and a library, when the police made the arrests.

Irina Fet said this morning that “In many other countries, homosexuality is explained at schools. In Russia it’s different.”

The activists were demonstrating to denounce a law on ‘administrative’ offences in force in the Russian region of Ryazan which were established in 2006. They forbid the ‘propaganda of homosexuality to minors.’

The area is one of the regions that compose the RussianFederation – but each region can have its own laws provided none of them breach the Russian Constitution.

The Ryazan region is the only one in Russia that has a law explicitly banning the ‘propaganda of homosexuality’. The activists claim that this law which forbids any discussion of homosexuality with children, is unconstitutional.

One of the activists, Nikolai Alekseev voiced his dismay saying, “We came here to denounce a law which is not only homophobic but which is also against the Constitution of this country… This action was a necessary step to appeal the cancellation of this law to the Constitutional Court.”

He continued, “We are giving a strong signal to other regions as well as federal authorities which plan to follow the same path.”

Last year, the activists pushed for the end of the ban on blood donation by gay and lesbian individuals – it’s seen as the first success for LGBT rights in Russia since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993.

Their campaign for Freedom of Assembly in Russia has been going ongoing for four years, with 168 banned gay marches appealed to European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.