Serbia: Ultranationalists jailed for disrupting gay parade

Belgrade, 20 April (AKI) - A Serbian court in Belgrade on Wednesday sentenced fourteen members of ultranationalist organization Obraz to up to two years in prison for last year's violent disruption of the capital's first gay pride parade.

The court sentenced Obraz leader Mladen Obradovic to two years, while others received sentences ranging from eight months to year and a half in prison.

Judge Danko Lausevic said the group organized protests against the 10 October parade which turned into a riot, injuring 140 people, including 124 police.

A mob also caused ”great material damage” as rioters smashed store windows and overturned automobiles, Lausevic said.

As the sentences were pronounced, Obraz sympathizers in the courtroom unfolded a banner reading “We defend the face of motherland.”