MOSCOW — LGBTQ-Friendly Travel Agency: A Russian man accused of operating a travel agency catering to gay customers was found dead in pretrial detention, rights group OVD-Info reported on Sunday. The case comes amid an intensifying crackdown on LGBTQ rights in Russia.
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Andrei Kotov, the director of “Men Travel,” faced charges of “organizing extremist activity and participating in it,” according to OVD-Info, which monitors political arrests and human rights abuses.
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Authorities informed Kotov’s lawyer that her client had died by suicide early Sunday, his body discovered in his cell.
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Allegations of Abuse and Protestations of Innocence
Before his death, Kotov had denied the charges. Independent media outlet Mediazona reported earlier this month that Kotov alleged law enforcement officers beat him and used electric shocks during his arrest, despite his lack of resistance.
The case against Kotov is part of a broader climate of fear and suppression targeting Russia’s LGBTQ community. In December 2022, Russia’s Supreme Court designated the “international LGBT movement” as extremist, effectively outlawing LGBTQ activism and exposing community members to potential prosecution and imprisonment.
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A Decade of LGBTQ Suppression Intensifies
The legal and public pressure against Russia’s LGBTQ community has escalated over the past decade, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. President Vladimir Putin has framed the conflict as a cultural battle against Western values, claiming that LGBTQ rights are part of a broader effort to undermine Russia’s “traditional family values.”
The ongoing repression has created an atmosphere of fear and isolation for LGBTQ individuals in Russia, with Kotov’s death serving as a stark example of the risks faced by those even tangentially involved in LGBTQ advocacy.
