Student arrested in Russia for ‘LGBTQ+ propaganda’ is released
Haoyang Xu has reunited with his partner Gela Gogishvili after being detained.
A Chinese student found guilty for violating Russia’s so-called ‘gay propaganda’ law, has been released.
Haoyang Xu was arrested earlier this month (5 April), and the court in the Republic of Tatarstan ordered his deportation.
Russia’s homophobic ‘gay propaganda’ law has banned any event, act, or material regarded as an attempt to promote homosexuality to children since 2013.
In December, President Vladimir Putin expanded the law’s scope, prohibiting information to adults too. This effectively bans LGBTQ-related information in Russia.
Xu is a 21-year-old Chinese national who was studying and living in the city of Kazan. Online, he shared his life with his Georgian partner, Gela Gogishvili, who grew up in Russia.
According to court documents, Xu was arrested for allegedly posting videos depicting “non-traditional sexual relations,” CNN reported.
Gogishvili had seemingly also been charged in connection with the same law. He was held but then released.
However, Gogishvili, who faces fines of up to 200,000 Rubles (over $2,400), had not yet been arrested, CNN reported.
The good news is the couple have now been reunited. They posted pictures together with the caption “we are together again” on their TikTok on Tuesday (25 April).
Gogishvili has previously shared that his partner was given dirty water to drink and was being targeted with homophobic abuse.
About the trial, he added: “The court didn’t care about all the things that the police did wrong. They were not doing the legal procedures correctly, but they [the court] didn’t care.”
“It’s very far from comfortable or even human conditions. And well, in general, keeping a person who is not guilty of anything in such conditions, it’s very traumatising in general.”