Photo: BGNES/EPA, archive
Police in Moscow targeted multiple gay nightclubs and a men’s sauna in what appeared to be simultaneous operations, local media reported Saturday.
The actions come two days after Russia’s Supreme Court labeled an “international LGBT movement” as “extremist”. Human rights groups have warned that the move could precede a wider crackdown.
The police raided a night club on Malaya Yakimanka Street, where a big dance party was taking place, a video of the publication “Ostrozhno Novosti” showed. “In the middle of the party, they stopped the music and (the police) started entering the lounges,” one eyewitness told the publication, who said the officers photographed their passports.
At least three bars were attacked overnight by law enforcement, news outlet SOTA reported, while Ostorozhno Novosti said a men’s sauna in central Moscow was also attacked. AFP was not immediately able to verify the reports.
Late Friday night, St. Petersburg’s Central Station, one of the city’s oldest gay clubs, announced it was closing due to the Supreme Court ruling. Russia already banned “LGBT propaganda” among all adults last year, as well as the portrayal of LGBTQ people in public and in the media. /BGNES
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2023-12-02 14:12:00
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