11:34, 1 November 2019

Two activists fined after picket against gay persecution in Chechnya

The LGBT flag. Photo: Benson Kua https://ru.wikipedia.org/

In Moscow, a court imposed fines of 10,000 roubles on LGBT activists Evelina Kozlova and Anastasia Reziuk, who came to a picket and called on to investigate killings and torture of gays in Chechnya.

On October 11, the police detained nine LGBT activists who held a picket in front of the building of the Chechen Representative Office in Moscow. The picketers demanded to investigate the killings and torture of gays in Chechnya. At night on October 12, the police released all participants of the protest action after drawing up protocols on violation of organization of a public event.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that on October 27, a crew of the "ABC" TV Channel from the United States visited Chechnya. Reporter James Longman came out with his homosexual orientation to Chechen police chief Apti Alaudinov, who was accompanying the TV Channel crew. Apti Alaudinov said that in Chechnya, gays were not afraid of persecution by the authorities, but of their relatives' reaction to their sexual orientation. The report provoked a large number of homophobic comments in popular Chechen publics. The story of the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya has not been forgotten, and the problem itself has not been resolved, believes Igor Kochetkov, the head of the "Russian LGBT Network".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 1, 2019 at 04:17 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.