Three defendants in the case of “LGBT propaganda” in books published by Popcorn Books were charged

About ten people were detained as part of the case

Investigators have charged three people involved in the case of organizing the activities of an “extremist organization”; yesterday, employees of the publishing houses Eksmo, Popcorn Books and Individuum were detained in connection with it.

We are talking about the distribution of literature containing, according to investigators, “LGBT propaganda.” The reason was books published and distributed from 2019 to 2022, the content of which, according to investigators, violates Russian legislation, according to which the non-existent “International LGBT Movement” is recognized as extremist.

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What is known about the publishers' case

According to the BBC Russian Service, today a court in Moscow is to choose a preventive measure for one of the heads of the Popcorn Books and Individuum publishing houses Dmitry Protopopov, the former sales director Pavel Ivanov and Artyom Vakhlyaev, who was responsible for the warehouse and distribution of literature.

Interfax reports that Eksmo director Anatoly Norovyatkin was released after interrogation as a witness. The detention of about ten current and former employees of three publishing houses and the conduct of searches at their premises became known on May 14.

On May 15, the Eksmo publishing house sent a letter to bookstores asking them to withdraw about 50 book titles from circulation. In a document published in the media, the publishing house strongly recommends recycling books locally or returning remaining products.

Among the works mentioned are “Summer in a Pioneer Tie,” “What the Swallow Is Silent About,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue,” SKAM and other books with mentions of people from the LGBT community.

As the human rights project “First Department” clarifies, the works were published in publishing houses between 2019 and 2022. The investigation charges those detained in the case with distributing these books in 2024, after the Supreme Court of Russia declared the non-existent “International LGBT Organization” extremist.

At the beginning of the year, “Verstka” reported that the publishing house “Eksmo”, due to the denunciation of the Z-channel, withdrew from sale the book “ Children of Irena ” by the writer Tilar Mazzeo. The reason was a quote about the crimes of Soviet soldiers during World War II.

Photo: REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

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