Russian man fined by court for not being homophobic
A Russian man has been hit with a steep fine, because he said something about gays that was “non-negative”.
Sergei Alekseenko is the latest person to be charged under the country’s ‘gay propaganda’ law, which bans the “promotion of non-traditional relationships” to minors.
The activist served as the director of Maximum, a Murmansk LGBT rights group that provided support and legal help for people struggling with their sexuality or gender identity, before it was forcibly de-registered by the government in October 2015. According to Human Rights Watch, the Leninsky District Court in Murmansk found that the group’s website violates the country’s law, which was signed into law by Putin in 2013.
Alekseenko was convicted of “the dissemination of positive information about LGBT relationships to children” and fined 100,000 rubles (£900) for the so-called violation.
Tanya Cooper of Human Rights Watch said: “Russian authorities use the ‘gay propaganda’ law to harass and intimidate LGBT activists into silence. Sergei Alekseenko will be appealing the district court’s verdict and the prosecutors should not oppose Alekseenko’s appeal.
“Russian authorities should immediately stop penalizing LGBT people for discussing their identities. Russia’s federal law banning ‘gay propaganda’ should be immediately repealed.”
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8 Comments
ken
February 06, 06:07Nothing good can ever come out of Russia. Their hearts are as cold as their icy winter
Pete
February 06, 06:39Mr ken, Russia gave the world vodka & for that, I’m grateful
Pink Panther
February 06, 06:41Aren’t you reciting the anthem for Nigeria, Uganda and a host of other African countries as well, ken?
Kenny
February 06, 06:38*inserts long hiss and moves on*
Mandy
February 06, 07:51Odiegwu ooo!
segs
February 06, 08:40Useless country thank God I don’t live there, Nigeria is better sef?
Max 2.1
February 06, 09:55Sounds like something Nigeria would do.. ??
bruno
February 06, 09:55ironically, russia still has far better gay laws than nigeria. being lgbt and same sex sexual activity are legal in russia.