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A court in Moscow found businessman Andrey Kotov guilty of organising the activity of an extremist group and participation in it (parts 1 and 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), as well as filming minors for the production of pornography (points “a” and “v” of part 2 of Article 242.2 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Mediazona.
The case was closed due to Kotov’s death.
In this case, the so-called “extremist organisation” referred to a non-existent “International LGBT Social Movement.”
Kotov was detained on 30 November 2024. He said that during the search, police officers beat and tortured him with a stun gun: I had to say what they wanted to hear.
On 2 December, the court remanded the businessman in custody, and on 29 December, an investigator reported that he had died by suicide in pre-trial detention.
Kotov was the director of the travel agency Men Travel. Law enforcement claimed he was organising “trips for members of the LGBT community.” The businessman denied any wrongdoing, stating the trips were purely touristic.
One of the witnesses is an informant; he joined the tour on assignment from the authorities to collect materials for the case against Kotov, supposedly that very “LGBT propaganda.” But even he could not say anything coherent in court. And the other witnesses simply are not coming to court, said a source familiar with the process, as reported by the “Mozhem Obyasnit” channel.
Law enforcement also accused Kotov of covertly filming naked children. A BBC source said this involved shooting in a public place, but the content of these images is unknown.
