The magistrate of Judicial District No. 65 of the Proletarsky District Court in Tula has closed the case against Evgeny Malyugin, a member of the local branch of the “Rassvet” party. This was reported by the “Crime 6.21” project.
In April this year, Malyugin was fined 100,000 roubles (about US$1,100) under the law on “LGBT propaganda” (Part 3, Article 6.21 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The case was triggered by some joking photos of the young man with his friends posted on a Telegram channel.
On 10 August, the appeal court sent Malyugin’s case back for reconsideration. On 12 August, the magistrate judge issued a ruling to discontinue proceedings.
At the end of February this year, Evgeny Malyugin was detained by law enforcement officers. In addition to the charge of “LGBT propaganda,” he was also accused of “discrediting the army” (Part 1, Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences).
The protocol was triggered by a post on the Telegram channel “Tula Headquarters” about the August 1991 coup. Police found “discreditation” in the sentence: “That night, four women-defenders of the Tula House of Soviets picketed the headquarters of the Tula 106th Airborne Division (the very same 106th, which is now senselessly spilling blood on foreign soil).” In the view of law enforcement, this sentence meant that Malyugin had “undermined trust in the conduct of the special military operation.”
For this case, the court fined Malyugin 40,000 roubles (about US$440).
Asya Sokolova for OVD-Info
The adoption of the “LGBT propaganda” law marked not only widespread censorship but also intensified repression against LGBTQ people and the organisations that support them. With the designation of the “International LGBT Movement” as an “extremist organisation,” this pressure has increased once again.
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