Andrei Kotov (L) was found dead in a pre-trial detention centre. (Image: SOTA )
A man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay customers has died in pre-trial detention in Moscow, amid a major crackdown on the community, according to human rights group OVD-Info.
The group, which tracks political arrests, said Andrei Kotov, who was an entrepreneur and director of the “Men Travel” agency, faced charges of “organising extremist activity and participating in it”, as per news agency.
It was not specified by authorities what “extremist” association he was part of, the group said.
In November last year, the Kremlin included the “LGBT movement” in a list of banned extremist groups, effectively making activism illegal.
But it also exposed anyone in the community or even connected to it to criminal prosecution and prison, ushering in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
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It comes amid a crackdown on the LGBTQ community by Putin’s government. (Image: Getty)
According to OVD-Info, an investigator told Kotov’s lawyer that her client had taken his own life early Sunday while awaiting trial and was found dead in his cell.
Earlier this month, independent media outlet Mediazona reported that Kotov had rejected the charges and alleged in court that law enforcement officers beat him and administered electric shocks during the arrest, despite him not resisting.
The community in has been under legal and public pressure for over a decade but especially since the Kremlin sent troops to in 2022.
In 2013, the Kremlin adopted the first legislation restricting rights, known as the “gay propaganda” law, which outlawed any public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” among minors.
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In 2020, constitutional reforms pushed through by Russian leader to extend his rule by two further terms in office also included a provision to ban same-sex marriage.
In 2022, authorities adopted a law banning propaganda of “nontraditional sexual relations” among adults, also, effectively outlawing any public endorsement of LGBTQ+ people.
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The legislation prohibited any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”, as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records.
It also amended the country’s Family Code by listing gender change as a reason to annul a marriage and adding those “who had changed gender” to a list of people who can’t become foster or adoptive parents
Since the war began, Putin has argued that the war is a proxy battle with the West, which he says aims to destroy and its “traditional family values” by pushing for LGBTQ+ rights.
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