Russian police attack gays after court declares LGBTQ movement ‘extremist’: repercussions will be ‘nothing short of catastrophic’

Russian police launched a series of raids on gay bars and clubs in Moscow after the country’s highest court banned the LGBTQ movement in Russia, calling it “extremist.”

Police in the Russian capital attacked gay clubs, a nightclub, a men’s sauna and other places on Friday after the court’s decision, which effectively banned the LGBTQ community, NBC News reported on Sunday.

The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the government’s Justice Ministry and is part of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s long war against the gay community.

“It will affect countless people and its repercussions are about to be nothing short of catastrophic,” Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, told The Associated Press of the ruling.

The court’s decision came after a closed-door session on the case that lasted four hours on Thursday, and journalists were allowed into the courtroom only to read Judge Oleg Nefedov’s ruling.

Few details of the deliberations of the court, Russia’s highest, were made public, with authorities only revealing that “signs and manifestations of an extremist nature” were identified in the LGBTQ movement, including “incitement to social and religious discord.”

Russian police raided gay bars and other LGBTQ venues on Friday after the country’s court labeled the community “extremist.” @ostorozhno_novosti/Telegram

Critics questioned the legality of the move, including the Justice Ministry’s authority to bring the lawsuit.

Igor Kochetkov, founder of the Russian LGBT Network, was among those who tried to block the effort.

“We tried to find some legal logic in this absurdity,” Kochetkov said before the ruling. “We tried to appeal to the common sense of the Supreme Court and say, ‘Look, here I am, a person who has been involved in LGBT activism for years, who has been promoting these ideas.’

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Russian Judge Oleg Nefedov announces the Supreme Court ruling declaring the LGBTQ community “extremist.” YURI KOCHETKOV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“’Ideas to defend human rights, yes,’” he said. ‘And this lawsuit concerns me.’ “

Putin increased pressure on the gay community after launching his attack on Ukraine last year, calling his effort part of a campaign to suppress the “degrading” influence of the West.

But back in 2013, the Kremlin passed legislation restricting “gay propaganda” and banning any public endorsement of “non-traditional sexual relations” in Russia.

LGBTQ advocates protest outside the Kremlin in Moscow amid Russia’s ongoing crackdown on the gay community. AP

The 2020 government reforms that extended Putin’s tenure as president by two terms included a provision banning same-sex marriage in the country.

The Russian supreme court has not commented further on its ruling.

With postal cables

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Source: vtt.edu.vn

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