A court in Orenburg handed down the first verdict in Russia in the case of organizing an “extremist LGBT community”

The Central District Court of Orenburg on Monday, June 29, issued the first verdict in a criminal case on organizing the activities of the “international LGBT movement.” Employees of the local Pose bar were given actual sentences of up to 7 years in prison. This is stated in the court's report.

The three defendants in the case - the owner, administrator and art director of the bar - according to investigators, organized events “united by the common theme of demonstrating belonging to persons of non-traditional sexual orientation.”

All three were found guilty under the article on organizing and participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 and part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The art director of the Pose bar, 23-year-old Alexander Klimov, received 2 years and 3 months in prison, the administrator Diana Kamilyanova - 6 years and 3 months, and the owner of the establishment, 37-year-old Vyacheslav Khasanov, was sentenced to 7 years in prison, writes “Caution, News”. A million rubles were also recovered from the owner of the establishment as “criminal proceeds from the activities of an extremist organization.”

This is the first known criminal case about the organization of an “extremist LGBT community” in Russia. The arrest of Pose bar employees became known in March 2024. Shortly before this, a raid by security forces took place in the bar - this was preceded by a denunciation from a local nationalist organization.