13:13, 3 April 2017

"Russian LGBT-network" offers to evacuate gays from Chechnya

A symbol of the LGBT community. Photo https://lgbtnet.org/ru/content/sotrudnichestvo-mezhdu-lgbt-i-profsoyuznym-dvizheniyami-prodolzhaetsya

The data on persecutions of homosexuals in Chechnya need investigators’ verification, the “Russian LGBT-network” has stated. The organization is ready to help the victims, before they are evacuated from Chechnya.

Earlier, mass media reported mass detentions of men suspected of homosexuality in Chechnya. Some of them were killed, the “Novaya Gazeta” has reported.

"No national and/or religious traditions and norms can excuse kidnappings and killings," says the statement of the “Russian LGBT-network”.

The "Russian LGBT-network" is an interregional organization that deals with the protection of the rights of sexual minorities, states the website of the organization.

It has also called on all those non-indifferent to file applications with the demand to investigate the persecutions of homosexuals in Chechnya.

This call has already been responded to by the Novosibirsk branch of the “Yabloko” Party, which demands to defend the victims and punish those guilty.

Let us remind you that in March, protests related to sexual minorities intensified in the regions of Northern Caucasus. This happened after LGBT activists filed notifications about their intentions to hold actions in some cities of Southern Russia, in particular, in Nalchik, Stavropol, Cherkessk and Maikop. The authorities refused to sanction the actions; and initiators thereof reported receiving phone calls with threats.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.