Three jailed in Russia’s first criminal prosecution under LGBTQ+ ban

The owner of an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Russia has been jailed for seven years after becoming one of the first people convicted under the country’s ban on the so-called “international LGBT movement”.

An Orenburg court also handed prison sentences to Pose club manager Diana Kamilyanova and art director Alexander Klimov, finding all three guilty of organising and participating in the activities of what Russian authorities class as an “extremist organisation”.

Vyacheslav Khasanov, 37, who owned the venue, was also ordered to pay a fine of one million roubles (£9,300). Kamilyanova, 30, received six years and three months in prison, while Klimov, 23, was sentenced to two years and three months. All three denied the charges.

What is Russia’s ‘LGBT extremist’ ruling?

The case is believed to be the first criminal prosecution linked directly to Russia’s 2023 Supreme Court ruling, which declared the so-called “international LGBT public movement” an extremist organisation. The ruling did not define what the movement was, but gave prosecutors broad powers to pursue criminal cases connected to LGBTQ+ groups, venues and activism.

Pose opened in the city of Orenburg in 2021. As restrictions on LGBTQ+ people increased, the venue reportedly rebranded itself as a “parody bar theatre”, according to independent Russian outlet Mediazona.

Police, National Guard officers and members of a nationalist group raided the club in March 2024. Videos shared online showed customers standing with their hands raised while others lay face down on the floor. Performers were detained and costumes and wigs were seized during the operation.

Why did the court convict them?

The court said the defendants had “under the guise of running a nightclub, organised events centred on the common theme of demonstrating affiliation with people of non-traditional sexual orientation for an unspecific group of the venue’s patrons”.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, publishers, streaming platforms and online services in Russia have faced investigations and fines over alleged ‘LGBT propaganda’.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly framed LGBTQ+ rights as incompatible with what his government describes as traditional Russian values.