ST. PETERSBURG, April 9 - RAPSI. A St. Petersburg court will continue to hear on April 16 the case against two gay rights activists for protests against the law prohibiting gay and pedophilia promotion among minors.

The court will hear the testimony of police officers who detained activists Sergei Kondrashov and Igor Kochetkov.

The bill, setting fines for “gay propaganda,” came into force in St. Petersburg on March 30. It faced criticism from the LGBT community and rights activists in Russia and abroad, but was also proposed to be made into a federal law. The law proposes to fine violators.

The court added to the case a letter addressed to St. Petersburg City Council member Vitaly Milonov, the author of the notorious law. In his letter sent via online social networks, Kondrashov condemned the law.