"Artyom Fokin, director of the Russian grassroots group Irida, was found guilty by a court in the southwestern Samara region of both organizing the activities of an "extremist" organization and evading "foreign agent" duties, and fined 450,000 rubles ($5,700), the Samarskaya Gazeta reported."
"The ruling added the amorphous "movement" to a list of terrorist and banned organizations in the country. Russia's Justice Ministry forwarded the case to local prosecutors in November, asking the court to label Irida - translated as "Rainbow" in English - an "extremist" organization."
"A lawyer for Russian human rights group Perviy Otdel said Fokin's example was the "first extremism case against the leader of an LGBT initiative." In the case decided Friday, prosecutors said among the 38 members in the group, Fokin had "openly invited teens as young as 14 into the organization online.""
Russia has intensified persecution of LGBTQ+ organizations following a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that banned the "international LGBT movement" as extremist. Artyom Fokin, director of the grassroots group Irida, was convicted in Samara region on charges of organizing an extremist organization and evading foreign agent duties, receiving a fine of 450,000 rubles. Prosecutors claimed Fokin recruited members as young as 14 online. This case represents the first extremism conviction against an LGBT initiative leader in Russia. The Justice Ministry had previously labeled Irida a foreign agent in 2022, and Fokin was added to Russia's extremists and terrorists database in 2024 following arrest on a police complaint.
#lgbtq-persecution #russian-extremism-laws #lgbt-rights-organizations #human-rights-violations #criminal-prosecution
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