Tag Archives: Russia

Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Panel Has Evidence Rioters Interacted With GOP House Reps

Man Wanted for Jan 6. Capital Insurrection Attack Seeks Asylum In Belarus

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A man on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for attacking police and storming the Capital during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol domestic terrorist attack is now seeking asylum in Belarus, Russia according to state-run tv.

Evan Neumann, 48, is wanted in the United States on charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, as well as for assaulting, resisting and obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder.

Neumann sold his California home in spring and was thought to have moved to Ukraine to evade arrest, ABC News reported this summer. Neumann “sought justice and asked uncomfortable questions” following the 2020 U.S. elections disputed by ex-President Donald Trump, the presenter added, “but lost almost everything and is being persecuted by the U.S. government.”

The Moscow Times

Neumann aka. #DrunkedTrashStache crossed illegally into Belarus after spending months in Ukraine.

Such patriot! – “I was just a tourist returning to my home country.

QAnon Nut Republican Marjorie Traitor Greene Co-Sponsors Bill to Ban Rainbow Pride Flag

Putin Mocks Rainbow PRIDE Flag At US Embassy in Moscow, Signs New Anti-Gay Amendment Into Law

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Last week we reported on how the United States Embassy in Moscow defied Donald Trump by hanging a rainbow LGBT PRIDE flag on it’s building after Trump ordered embassies around the world not to do so.

On Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the flag, suggesting it reflected on the orientation of the diplomats.

Via reporter.am:

During a televised video conference, a lawmaker told Putin that the US embassy had hung a rainbow flag on its facade for the first time to celebrate Pride month in June.

‘Who works in this building?’ Putin asked the speaker, Senator Alexei Pushkov, to be told ‘Americans.’

‘Let them celebrate. They’ve shown a certain something about the people who work there,’ he added with a smile.

Members associated with Sorok Sorokov, a conventional Orthodox Christian group, videoed themselves wiping their feet and walking over a rainbow flag in front in the embassy building in protest.

Putin also on Friday signed amendments to the constitution backed by way of a national vote that include a clause on marriage being between a man and a woman, aimed at preventing legalisation of gay unions.

Shortly after Putin claimed that Russia does not discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation.

He said a law he signed in 2013 to a storm of international condemnation was aimed only to prevent the ‘foisting’ of LGBT information to children.

The law has since been used as a pretext to ban gay pride events and jail LGBT activists in Russia.

QAnon Nut Republican Marjorie Traitor Greene Co-Sponsors Bill to Ban Rainbow Pride Flag

American Embassy Defies Trump and Putin, Displays PRIDE Flag in Moscow

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Earlier this month the Trump administration ordered American embassies in foreign countries not to display the rainbow PRIDE flag. In Russia itself it as seen as a symbol of LGBT propaganda and against the law. But that did not stop the American embassy in Moscow which is proudly and definitely displaying the flag for all to see.

” “LGBTI rights are human rights. Human rights are universal,” said the caption on the embassy’s Instagram page. “Pride Month is designed to emphasize that everyone deserves to live a life free of hate, prejudice, and persecution.”

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that they “can’t see the American embassy from the Kremlin,” but said that “any manifestations of propaganda of non-traditional sexual minorities, and so on, is not allowed by law in our country.”

Yesterday millions of Russians took to the polls to vote on a package of constitutional amendments, including one which would enshrine marriage as being between a man and a woman. In March, the country’s Constitutional Court approved the proposal, but noted that it would not remove the state’s obligation to respect differences, including sexual orientation.

We will post the results of the vote when the numbers become available.

Chechnya's Murderous Anti-Gay Purge Leader Gets COVID-19

Chechnya’s Murderous Anti-Gay Purge Leader Gets COVID-19

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Via ABC News:

Russian state news agencies have reported that Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian leader of Russia’s southern region of Chechnya, has been transported to a Moscow hospital with suspected COVID-19 symptoms.

“Ramzan Kadyrov has been flown to Moscow with suspected coronavirus. He is currently being monitored by doctors,” an unidentified source in the Moscow medical community told Tass agency, adding that Kadyrov’s condition is “stable.”

Kadyrov, 43, has run predominantly Muslim Chechnya with an iron fist since 2007. The Kremlin has relied on him to keep the North Caucasus region stable after two devastating separatist wars. International rights groups have accused Kadyrov’s feared security forces of extrajudicial killings, torture and abductions of dissenters

Since 2007,. Kadyrov’s rule has been characterised by high-level corruption, a poor human rights record, widespread use of torture, the murder of homosexuals and a growing cult of personality.

Since 2017, Kadyrov has led a murderous campaign against Chechen gays and lesbians saying that gays are “inhuman devils” and that Chechnya must “purify our blood” of their presence. At least 100 gay men are believed to have been tortured and a unknown killed by Kadyrov’s vigilantes including Chechen pop star Zelimkhan Bakaev.

Thoughts and prayers you murderous motherfucker. Thoughts and prayers.

Washington Man Arrested In Killing of 17 Year Old Transgender Girl

Washington Man Arrested In Killing of 17 Year Old Transgender Girl

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David Y. Bogdanov, 25, was arrested Tuesday on murder charges for the killing of a 17 year old transgender girl, Nikki Kuhnhausen after her skull was discovered in the woods in southern Washington this month the Vancouver Police Department said in a news release.

“I believe that David became enraged at the realization that he had engaged in sexual contact with a male whom he believed to be female and strangled Nikki to death,” Officer Jason Mills wrote in a probable cause affidavit.

Detectives used data from Kuhnhausen’s Snapchat account to find out who she had been talking to early on June 6 — which led them to Bogdanov, who “corroborated that the two had met and that he had transported her in his vehicle,” police said

“Bogdanov stated Nikki walked away and he never saw her after that,” police said.

Court documents said Bogdanov reported being “shocked” and “really, really disturbed” by the revelation that Nikki was transgender, saying “homosexuality is unacceptable in Russian culture”.

Cellphone location data showed that Bogdanov’s phone had been in a variety of locations at the time — including the area of east Clark County near Larch Mountain where a person found Kuhnhausen’s remains on Dec. 7, according to police.

Judge Suzan Clark granted the state’s request for no bail in Bogdanov’s case. A hearing to contest the no-bail hold is scheduled for Jan. 2.

Director Oliver Stone Thinks Russia’s Anti-Gay Law Is “Sensible”

Director Oliver Stone Thinks Russia’s Anti-Gay Law Is “Sensible”

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The Daily Beast reports:

Filmmaker and conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone has made no secret of his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but now he has taken it to a whole new level by trying to make him his 22-year-old daughter’s godfather. “Does she want to become an Orthodox Christian?” Putin asked when Stone floated the idea during a sit-down in the Kremlin.

Putin appeared to wriggle his way out of the proposal (“You have to ask her,” he said) before Stone went on to complain about “American culture,” taking particular issue with what he described as a focus on gender identity and people labeling themselves as “transgender” and “cisgender.”

Stone quickly steered the conversation toward a controversial 2013 Russian law banning “homosexual propaganda” among minors, a law which experts say has prompted a surge of homophobic violence in the country. “It seems like maybe that’s a sensible law,” Stone said.

Oliver Stone endorsed Jill Stein in 2016, take that conspiracy theory as you will.

European Court of Human Rights Fines Russia Over LGBT Discrimination

European Court of Human Rights Fines Russia Over LGBT Discrimination

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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian government must pay approximately $41,000 in damages to three lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights groups for having refused their registration in recent years.

Between the years 2006 to 2011, Rainbow House, the Movement for Marriage Equality, and the Sochi Pride House attempted to register their respective organizations with Russian authorities. The government denied each of  their applications, claiming that the organizations would undermine [Russia’s] sovereignty and territorial integrity…by decreasing its population”, and  “destroy the moral values of society”

When denying Movement for Marriage Equality’s registration, the government construed LGBT rights activities as “gay propaganda,” and said the organization’s work amounted to “extremist activities.” Russia was of course referring to its 2013 “gay propaganda” law which bans the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors,” which includes, but is not limited to, information provided via the press, television, radio, and the Internet.

The law has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Council of Europe along with all other human rights organizations.

Apple Watch Gay Rainbow Pride Face Display Disabled in Russia

Apple Watch Gay Rainbow Pride Face Display Disabled in Russia

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According to a software developer the Apple Watch Gay Pride face displaying the rainbow flag has purportedly been “hardcoded” by the tech giant not to show up in Russia.

“The Apple Watch pride face is hardcoded to not show up if the paired iPhone is using the Russian locale,” tweeted Guilherme Rambo, a developer who writes for the website 9to5Mac.

Rambo also tweeted lines of code purportedly related to the disablement of the Pride watch face in Russia.

In June, Apple released the new Watch face to celebrate Pride. The tech giant also updated its Pride Edition Woven Nylon Watch band with a new rainbow stripe. Similar to the first version of the rainbow Watch band, Apple is donating a portion of the proceeds to number of LGBT advocacy organizations,

Apple has not replied to a request for comment on this story.

Biysk Teenager First Minor Arrested Under Russia’s Anti-Gay ‘Propaganda’ Laws

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A teenager has become the first minor to be prosecuted under Russia’s strict “gay propaganda” laws which were mandated by Vladimir Putin.

Maxim Neverov, a 16-year-old from the city of Biysk, was reportedly fined £50,000 rubles (£580) by a court, according to campaign group the Russian LGBT Network.

The organisation said a police report filed in July claimed the teenager had posted several images of “partly nude” men on the social network VKontakte.

“Maxim Neverov points to the absurdity of the fact that the proceedings for propaganda among minors were initiated against a minor, but he expected such a decision,” the network said in a statement.

“Maxim Neverov is 16 years old; he is a schoolchild.”

The teenager’s lawyer, Artem Lapov, said the decision by the court violated his client’s right to freedom of expression.

The Russian LGBT Network, who provided Maxim’s lawyer, said authorities may have pursued charges following the teenager’s involvement in an event called “Gays or Putin”.

He and other organizers reportedly submitted 12 applications to hold events around Biysk, all of which were rejected by the city.

Russian Police "Detain" 25 Gay Activists In Russia After Protest

Russian Police “Detain” 25 Gay Activists In Russia After Protest

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Russian police have “detained” around 25 gay rights activists who took part in an unsanctioned gay rights rally in St Petersburg on Saturday.

Activists gathered at Palace Square on Saturday afternoon demanding freedom of association after city authorities turned down their request to hold a Pride parade.

City authorities rejected their request, saying there was ongoing road repairs in the city and claiming that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) actions were “harmful to the health of children.”

Police detained campaigners who unfurled rainbow flags or held placards, dragging them one by one into a police bus. There were no violent clashes between police and the activists and as of now there have been no formal charges brought.

Russia passed a law in 2013 signed by Vladimir Putin banning the spreading of gay “propaganda”.

We will update this story as more details become known.