Russian police detained forty people in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Saturday, mostly women, who demonstrated in support of the artist and sexual minority rights activist Yulia Cvetkov. She faces up to six years behind bars after being accused of spreading pornography.
According to a specialized server OVD-Info, which monitors the activities of the Russian police, it was in the early evening today in Moscow 38 people detained. The other three are in St. Petersburg. In the capital, protesters protested against the persecution of activist Yulia Cvetkov, according to the Russian BBC. They met at the monument to the wife of the leader of the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Nadezhda Krupska.
“They’re being sent to jail today for pictures, tomorrow for writing? Freedom to Julia Cvetkov!” stood on one of the banners. According to the Moscow television Dožď, two journalists, who were later released by the police, were among those arrested.
According to the media, the 27-year-old Cvetkovová became famous for her poetic illustrations on social networks, aptly named Vaginal monologues. She was first sentenced to a fine of 50,000 rubles (about 17,000 CZK) “for propaganda of homosexuality”.
She was under house arrest from last autumn to March this year, before a court in Komsomolsk-Amur changed her restriction to a ban on leaving the city. But in early June, she was again charged with spreading pornography, a crime in Russia that could put her up to six years in prison. The date of the court has not yet been set.
Famous personalities of the Russian art and media scene publicly stood up for the young artist and activist.
Video: Homophobic video spreads through Russia
Homophobic Russia Video: Federal Intelligence Agency (RIA FAN)
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