Moscow:
The Kremlin on Monday filed charges of “Satan worship” and “promoting homosexual relationships” as it upholds what it calls “traditional family values” and ramps up its legal crackdown on LGBTQ rights. The medic was arrested.
Moscow has long created a hostile environment for LGBTQ people, but the trend has accelerated significantly since sending troops to Ukraine in 2022.
The powerful FSB security service announced that it had arrested the head of a medical institution in the central Ulyanovsk region on suspicion of “devil worship.”
Although such accusations by state authorities are rare, the influence of the Orthodox Church has steadily grown as Russia has become a more conservative society.
“During the investigation, it became clear that this person was a supporter of Satanism and promoted same-sex relationships as a means of inducing subordinate employees to worship Satan,” the FSB said.
The newspaper said the man “misled the public into believing that they needed to join a cult to achieve economic prosperity and career advancement.”
The report said criminal proceedings had been opened over coercion into sexual acts and membership in an extremist organization.
The FSB released a video showing a man being arrested in his apartment and taken away by masked men wearing camouflage uniforms.
Last November, Russia banned what it called the “international LGBT movement.”
In a European ranking of countries' laws and policies that directly affect LGBTQ people, it ranks at the bottom, at 48th place.
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