A recent court case in Russia, involving the posthumous prosecution of a man charged under the country's laws against the "international LGBT movement," has drawn criticism from human rights organizations.
Andrei Kotov, a travel agent, was arrested in late 2024. While in pre-trial detention, Kotov died by suicide. Despite his death, Russian authorities proceeded with a trial, which concluded with a posthumous conviction.
The case has been condemned by human rights groups. The Peter Tatchell Foundation described the prosecution as "authoritarianism at its most cynical." The independent Russian news site Media Zona also reported critically on the proceedings.
The charges against Kotov were based on Russia's designation of the "international LGBT movement" as an extremist organization, a label applied by the country's Supreme Court in late 2023. Russian authorities state the measure is necessary to protect what they call the country's "traditional values."
In a separate development, reports from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have shed light on conditions for detainees held by Russian authorities in occupied Ukraine. The U.S.-funded broadcaster, which provides news to countries with limited independent media, interviewed former detainees.
One man, identified as Mr. Akhmetov, described being held in a detention center where he and others were forced to stand for long periods. “We got up at six in the morning. We couldn't sit down. We stood until ten in the evening,” Akhmetov stated. “Many people's legs were sore and swollen. And we stood like that until August 2023.”
The Russian government has previously dismissed reports of human rights abuses in its prisons and detention facilities as unfounded.
