Human rights activists recognized as political prisoners the employees of the Pose bar, arrested in the case of “LGBT extremism”

Project “Support for political prisoners. Memorial recognized the owner of the Orenburg bar Pose Vyacheslav Khasanov, the art director of the club Alexander Klimov and the administrator Diana Kamilyanova as political prisoners.

All three were arrested at the end of March on charges of organizing the activities of an “extremist organization” (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). This is the first known such case since LGBT people were recognized as an “extremist organization” in Russia.

Pose opened in 2021 and hosted parties with drag shows. The club itself called itself “the first thematic establishment” in Orenburg, and after the adoption of the law on “LGBT propaganda”, it began to present itself as a “bar-theater of parodies” and “a night bar with a show program.” As a precaution, employees did not indicate the club's address on social networks.

“Support for political prisoners. Memorial" writes that the accused "were engaged in ordinary legal activities: Klimov and Kamilyanova worked at the club, fulfilling their official duties in recruiting and working with personnel, and Khasanov, as an entrepreneur, organized the activities of the club, where entertainment events were held."

The human rights project emphasizes that the club itself cannot be “a structural unit of the LGBT movement.” According to the clarification of the plenum of the Supreme Court in 2011, “organizing the activities of an extremist organization” is “actions to continue or resume the already existing activities of such an organization.” Examples include calling meetings or recruiting new members.

“It is obvious that when people come to a bar, they do not become members of any organization, but exercise their right to spend leisure time at their own discretion,” human rights activists note.

“Even if we take into account that representatives of the LGBT community also gathered at the club, the activities of such establishments in themselves are not extremist, even taking into account the broad and vague formulations of the Supreme Court. “LGBT extremism,” as follows from the decision of the Supreme Court, means precisely activist activities for the promotion of equal rights for LGBT people, and not entertainment shows with the participation of artists,” human rights activists concluded.

On March 9, police and riot police carried out a raid at the Pose bar, footage of which was posted by members of the pro-government movement “Russian Community of Orenburg.” Partygoers, some in their underwear, were filmed forced to lie on the floor and stand against the wall, and then were asked what they were doing in the “fag club.” Unlike the security forces, the faces of the visitors were not blurred out on the video.

A week and a half later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs officially reported on the raid. According to the court, Pose employees “performed financial and economic functions” and looked for artists for the show, and at the same time “promoted non-traditional sexual relationships.”