By Sabiu Abdullahi
A court in Moscow has delivered a posthumous conviction against an LGBTQ travel agent who died in custody one year ago, intensifying concerns about Russia’s clampdown on people it claims oppose “traditional” values.
The ruling, issued on Friday, declared 48-year-old Andrei Kotov guilty of extremism. His death was reported in November 2024 after he was found lifeless inside his cell at a Moscow pre-trial detention facility.
Kotov, who operated a travel company named Men Travel, had previously told the court that officers assaulted him on the night of his arrest in November 2024, stating: “Fifteen people came to me at night, beat me, were punching me in the face.”
Despite his death, authorities continued prosecuting the case.
Rights groups said this decision was intended to instil fear within the LGBTQ community, which has faced escalating pressure under President Vladimir Putin.
Reports from Mediazona indicated that the Moscow Golovinsky Court found Kotov guilty of engaging in “extremist activity” and of allegedly involving minors in pornography.
His lawyer said in December 2024 that investigators informed her the cause of death was suicide.
Human rights advocates argued that the government used the case to send a message. Russia has intensified legal and social restrictions against LGBTQ individuals, especially since its military campaign in Ukraine, which pushed the country further into strict conservative policies.
Putin has long criticised anything he believes contradicts “traditional family values,” describing such influences as foreign and un-Russian. In 2023, the Supreme Court outlawed what it referred to as the “international social LGBT movement” and labelled it an “extremist organisation.”
Human Rights Watch said that decision “opened the floodgates for arbitrary prosecutions of individuals who are LGBT or perceived to be, along with anyone who defends their rights or expresses solidarity with them.”
Although LGBTQ people have never experienced broad public acceptance in Russia, activists say conditions have worsened sharply in recent years, with increased risk and intensified state hostility.