Andrei Kotov was found dead in a Moscow prison.
Investigators say Andrei Kotov committed suicide, but NGOs point to torture in Moscow prison. 40-year-old Russian was on probation for “extremist activities”.
A Russian man arrested for organizing trips for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people was found dead in Moscow at a time when he was in pre-trial detention, a human rights group and Russian state media indicated yesterday.
Andrei Kotovdirector of the travel agency Men Travel, was accused last month of “extremist activities”after at the end of 2023 the Supreme Court of Russia had what it called the “international LGBT movement”, paving the way for the possibility of legal proceedings against those accused of being part of it.
In Putin’s Russia, people end up in prison and die just because they are homosexual. Andrei Kotov, a tour operator who organized LGBT trips to Moscow, was found lifeless in his cell. He had been arrested for creating “an extremist community that undermines traditional values”.
— Marco Fattorini (@MarcoFattorini)
According to the non-governmental organization for the defense of human rights, which cites Kotov’s lawyer, investigators said that he committed suicide at dawn this Monday. The NGO said Kotov, 40, said he was beaten when he was detained and hit with a taser.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti also reported that Kotov committed suicide in prison.
Russian news agencies close to law enforcement authorities stated that Kotov was preparing a New Year’s trip for LGTBQ+ people to Egypt, independent news agency Meduza reported, and that the now deceased recently organized an LGBTQ+ cruise on the Volga River in Russia. Kotov denied the accusationssaying the trips he organized were “normal” boat trips and fishing trips.
Russia has in recent years increased laws against LGBT people, seeing it as a continuation of its fight against the West, whose values and ways of life are classified as “decadent” hair President Vladimir Putin.
In November last year, Russia’s Supreme Court banned LGBTI+ activism for extremismin the most drastic measure against defenders of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the country. The decision covers the “international LGBTI+ movement” and all its branches in Russia.
The Ministry of Justice argued that authorities had identified “signs and manifestations of an extremist nature” by an LGBTI+ movement operating in Russia. The Public Prosecutor’s Office referred to the “incitement to social and religious discord”but without presenting details or evidence, according to the North American agency AP.
