Russian Gay Rights Advocate Says He Was Kidnapped

Dan82 · Sep 20, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/world/europe/21russia.html?_r=1

In over five years as one of Russia’s most vocal gay rights campaigners, Nikolai Alekseyev has been publicly insulted, repeatedly arrested and pelted with everything from eggs to fists.

Now, Mr. Alekseyev says he was kidnapped, by people he believes to be members of Russia’s security services, and held for two days at different locations outside of Moscow where he says plainclothes officers threatened and verbally abused him.

Mr. Alekseyev disappeared on Sept. 15, sending ripples of anxiety through Russia’s small and embattled gay rights community and prompting statements of concern from lawmakers in the European Union. He resurfaced two days later, saying he had been detained while trying to board a plane at Domodedovo Airport here.

His detention was an effort, Mr. Alekseyev said in a telephone interview on Monday, to press him to drop lawsuits filed with the European Court of Human Rights against the Moscow authorities, with whom he has tussled for years over the ability to hold rallies in the capital.

Though homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, and many large cities now have gay clubs and bars, many top officials have voiced strong opposition to broader gay rights...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/world/europe/21russia.html?_r=1
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Leon481 · Sep 20, 2010

So that's why he's seeking aslyum in Belarus. It doesn't sound like they hurt him physically, so that's good at least.

Russian Gay Rights Advocate Says He Was Kidnapped

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Russian Gay Rights Advocate Says He Was Kidnapped

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