Russian courts have fined and even jailed people for posts that opposed same-sex relationships, because the content contained rainbow flags, Meduza reports, citing cases compiled by the independent outlet Mediazona.
Russia's Supreme Court declared the "international LGBT movement" extremist in November 2023. Since then the ban has led to at least 14 criminal cases and hundreds of administrative penalties, often without officials considering why a rainbow image was posted.
Among the cases, a retiree from Kurgan who had welcomed the ban was fined 1,500 roubles six months later over old homophobic reposts featuring a rainbow flag. A Pyatigorsk man spent a day in jail over an image mocking the leaders of Ukraine and France, and a pensioner in the Kemerovo region was fined 100,000 roubles for a slideshow he said criticised Pride events.
Source: Meduza
