Russia: owner of LGBT+ bar arrested and accused of “extremism”
This is a sign of increased repression against LGBT people in Russia: the owner of a bar located in the Urals was placed in pre-trial detention and accused of “extremist” activities. He therefore joins behind bars two of his employees also arrested at the beginning of the month for the same reasons.
The rainbow flag, emblem of the LGBT community. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic
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Ten years in prison is the sentence faced by the two employees of the bar and its owner. The motive given by investigators is the organization of “extremist” activities. According to the terms used by the authorities, the accused are “
people with a non-traditional sexual orientation”
and
“support the opinions and activities of the international
LGBT+
public association , banned in our country
”.
This first criminal case for LGBT+ extremism began on March 9 with a raid in the middle of the night in the bar called Pose located in Orenburg, in the south of the Urals. Two employees of the bar were first arrested before the owner was arrested, while he was at Moscow international airport.
In November 2023, the Russian Supreme Court
qualified the “
international LGBT movement
”
as extremist , a decision with legal contours that are all the more vague as the LGBT+ movement has no legal existence as such and a new level reached in Russia in the repression of sexual minorities.
Since 2013, a law in Russia has already prohibited the “
propaganda
” of “
non-traditional sexual relations
” aimed at minors. This legislation was considerably expanded at the end of 2022 and now bans all forms of LGBT+ “
propaganda
” in the media, on the internet, in books and films.
Read alsoRussia: police raids on LGBT+ clubs in Moscow
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