ST. PETERSBURG, December 25 - RAPSI. St. Petersburg activists have filed an appeal against the Moskovsky District Court's ruling which dismissed their lawsuits against Madonna and the organizers of her concert, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday.

In mid-August, the court agreed to hear the lawsuits against Madonna and the organizers of her concert in St. Petersburg. The plaintiffs sought 333 million rubles ($10.8million) for alleged offences related to her support for the LGBT community.

In November, the court dismissed all nine lawsuits and ruled to recover legal fees from the plaintiffs in favor of the concert organizers.

Darya Dedova, one of the plaintiffs, said that the claims remain the same and they are determined to seek the cancellation of the defendants' recovery of the legal fees.
The plaintiffs believe that the Moskovsky District Court's ruling showed the entire world that the law prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality among under-aged does not work, and that "Russian laws can be violated with no consequences."

The St. Petersburg law on prohibiting the propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors, which gathered a host of both supporters and opponents, came into effect on March 30.

Under the amended law, public actions intended to promote homosexual and bisexual relations and transgender issues among minors are to be punished by administrative fines amounting to 5,000 rubles ($162.3) for individuals, 50,000 rubles ($1,623) for officials and from 250,000 to 500,000 rubles ($8,115 to 16,230) for legal entities.