RUSSIA/FILE: Gay activist leader questioned at Investigative Committee

Record ID: 277956

  • Title: RUSSIA/FILE: Gay activist leader questioned at Investigative Committee
  • Date: 14th August 2013
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 14, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF RUSSIA'S INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE WOMAN ENTERING RUSSIA'S INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE RUSSIAN GAY ACTIVIST LEADER NIKOLAI ALEXEYEV ARRIVING AT RUSSIA'S INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE GUARD NEAR FENCE OF RUSSIA'S INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN GAY ACTIVIST LEADER NIKOLAI ALEXEYEV, SAYING: "You have seen that
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2TWCNBZZW8U1F52BR3O63K68E
  • Story Text: A Russian gay activist was summoned to the Investigative Committee on Wednesday (August 14) for questioning - a move he says is another move to persecute gays and lesbians in Russia.
    Russia has faced criticism over a number of anti-gay laws passed recently. In June it passed a controversial law against gay propaganda among children.
    Critics of the law have said it effectively disallows all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals. President Vladimir Putin also banned same-sex couples from adopting children.
    Nikolai Alexeyev, Russia's most prominent gay rights activist, was recently called in to Russia's Investigative Committee for questioning.
    "You have seen that this is all no coincidence. That all this came on the back of our statements that we will stage a gay pride in Sochi on the opening day of the Olympic Games. All this is no coincidence. Therefore, it is just another way to put pressure on the LGBT community," Alexeyev said.
    "I think that Russia wants to set itself against the West. And this is one of those issues where they can set themselves against the West," Alexeyev said.
    Russia's anti-gay policy has attracted criticism from world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama.
    Internationally, over 350,000 people have signed an online petition calling on world leaders and Russian politicians to push for a repeal of anti-gay laws and to protect citizens from violence and discrimination.
    Russian lawmaker Yelena Mizulina championed Russia's anti-gay propoganda law, and has become the butt of a number of acerbic jokes online as a result. She now claims she is the victim of defamation, and a number of journalists and public figures have been called in to Russia's Investigative Committee to for questioning after posting jokes on Twitter.
    "They probably called me for questioning because Ms. Mizulina can't sleep at night and re-reads my Twitter over and over again and can't calm down. Well, let her read further, no problem with me," Alexeyev said.
    Homosexuality was decriminalized after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but a recent poll by the independent Levada Centre found 38 percent of Russians believe gay people need treatment and 13 percent said they should face prosecution.
    Gay pride events in Moscow and St. Petersburg are often disrupted by violence. Alexeyev himself was arrested on several occasions over the past few years.
    Putin, who has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church as a moral authority and harnessed its influence as a source of political support, has championed socially conservative values since starting a new, six-year term in May 2012.
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