A well-known Russian LGBT activist has been fined for a second time under a controversial law banning gay “propaganda.”
Yulia Tsvetkova, a noted activist in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, wrote on Facebook on June 10 that she was found guilty of “propaganda in favor of nontraditional sexual relations among minors” -- an administrative offense -- and fined 75,000 rubles ($1,050).
In December 2019, Tsvetkova was fined 50,000 rubles ($704) for being the administrator of two LGBT-themed groups on social media.
The activist, who was under house arrest between late-November and mid-March, was also officially charged with “production and dissemination of pornographic materials" -- a criminal charge punishable by up to six years in prison.
On July 7, investigators filed a similar case against Tsvetkova for placing a drawn picture of a gay family with a child to an online campaign supporting gay families with children.
Several Russian celebrities, journalists and actors, issued a statement in March, calling authorities to drop charges against Tsvetkova.
Amnesty International in its December 2019 statement called the legislation under which Tsvetkova was charged "homophobic" and demanded from the Russian authorities to drop all charges against the activist, who "has done nothing else than standing up for human rights.”
