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.
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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 public association LGBT+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 described as extremist “ international LGBT movement » 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 “ propaganda ” of “ non-traditional sexual relations » addressed to minors. This legislation was considerably expanded at the end of 2022 and now bans all forms of “ propaganda » LGBT+ in the media, on the internet, in books and films.
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