Employees of an Orenburg gay bar - defendants in the first case of the “extremist LGBT movement” - were sentenced to terms of up to seven years in prison

The Central District Court of Orenburg sentenced three employees of the Pose bar to real terms in the first known case of the “extremist LGBT movement,” the court’s press service reported.

The court sentenced the art director of the bar, 23-year-old Alexander Klimov, to two years and three months in prison, the administrator, 30-year-old Diana Kamilyanova, to six years and three months, and the owner, 37-year-old Vyacheslav Khasanov, to seven years. The court also recovered more than one million rubles from the bar owner as “proceeds from crime.”

All three were charged with organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization (parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). None of them admitted guilt.

According to investigators, Kamilyanova filmed performances by drag queen artists, and Klimov held meetings with the artists and “promoted LGBT relationships” in a telegram, writes “Caution, News.”

When arresting Klimov and Kamilyanova, the court argued that they, being people with “non-traditional sexual orientation,” together with other people who “support the views and activities of the banned international public association of LGBT people,” ensured the functioning of the club.

• In March 2024, a raid took place in the Orenburg bar Pose with the participation of riot police. After this, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the police “suppressed the activities of a nightclub in which representatives of a movement banned in the Russian Federation had gathered.” Soon, three bar employees were arrested, they were sent to a pre-trial detention center, and later added to the list of extremists and terrorists.