Russian court has handed down the first conviction since Moscow banned the “international LGBT movement” late last year. As of Thursday (Feb 1), there were three reported cases concerning the particular ban across multiple Russian cities.
‘Out of stupidity’
On Thursday (Feb 1), a court in the southern region of Volgograd found a man guilty of “displaying the symbols of an extremist organisation” after he posted an image of the LGBT flag online, reported Reuters citing the court’s press service.
Artyom P was ordered to pay a fine of $11 (1,000 rubles) after he admitted guilt and repented, saying he had posted the image “out of stupidity,” as per the news agency.
Woman detained
Last week, a court in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod sentenced a woman to five days in administrative detention based on the recently passed law.
A report by The Moscow Times, on Thursday (Feb 1) citing human rights group Egida said that a woman was jailed for wearing rainbow earrings. The woman was identified as Anastasia Yershova in court documents.
According to the report, the police tasked with combating “extremism” detained the woman after a group of “aggressive people” approached Yershova and her friend at a local cafe and filmed them.
The woman was called to the police station after the man who had filmed the incident posted it online.
The video was also shared by ultra-conservative bloggers, according to The Moscow Times and showed the unidentified man threatening to hand them over to the police for wearing a Ukrainian flag pin and rainbow earrings.
As per court documents, Yershova was questioned by police and then brought before a judge who cited the ruling handed down by the Russian Supreme Court in Moscow on November 30.
At the time, the apex court judge ruled that “the international LGBT public movement and its subdivisions” were extremist, and issued a “ban on its activities on the territory of Russia”. The ban took effect immediately.
‘Creative solutions’
Additionally, a trial against a photographer in Saratov in southwestern will also resume next week after she allegedly posted images of rainbow flags on Instagram, reported independent Russian news outlet Mediazona.
The woman who was reportedly identified as 33-year-old photographer Inna Mosina, went to trial on Tuesday (Jan 30) and denied the charges against her.
According to The Moscow Times, the rainbow flag was posted on her Instagram page a month before the Supreme Court ruling went into force.
On Tuesday, during the hearing, she told the Leninsky District Court that the rainbow flags on her Instagram page are “creative solutions” and do not represent LGBTQ+ symbols, reported Mediazona.
(With inputs from agencies)
