KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR, Russia -- Prosecutors in Siberia have appealed the acquittal of LGBT activist and artist Yulia Tsvetkova in a high-profile case over drawings and other artwork depicting women's bodies that she posted online.
A group of Tsvetkova's supporters reported the prosecutors' move on July 22, exactly one week after she was acquitted by a court in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Tsvetkova’s mother, Anna Khodyreva, wrote on Facebook that the prosecutors' move may prolong her daughter’s ordeal for years.
"It is horrifying even to imagine how many more years of life and energy this senseless accusation can steal from Yulia," the activist's mother wrote, as the appeal means a new investigation into the case, as well as another trial, which could take two to three years to complete.
On July 15, the central district court found Tsvetkova innocent in a trial that was held behind closed doors because prosecutors said they needed to show the images as evidence.
The acquittal was to take force after 10 days unless authorities appealed the ruling.
Last month, prosecutors said they were seeking a conviction and a 38-month prison sentence in the case.
The 29-year-old Tsvetkova was charged with producing and distributing pornographic material for administering a social media page called The Vagina Monologues that showed abstract art resembling female genitalia.
The artist, an activist who draws women's bodies, is known for her advocacy of LGBT issues.
Tsvetkova’s trial began in April 2021 after a nearly 1 1/2-year investigation during which she was fined for spreading LGBT "propaganda" and put under house arrest. In May of last year, she launched a hunger strike to protest the case against her.
Amnesty International has said the case against Tsvetkova amounts to political repression and “Kafkaesque absurdity.”