In Russia, a 13-year-old boy has been accused of "LGBT propaganda" and threatened with being sent to a special school

Police have filed charges against a 13-year-old schoolboy for "LGBT propaganda" and displaying extremist symbols, Mediazona reported.

However, according to Article 2.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, administrative liability can only be imposed on someone aged sixteen or over.

A lawyer representing the boy told Mediazona that the student had shown a certain image or video to other children or their parents. They filed a complaint, and officers began an investigation.

"He didn't intend to engage in any kind of propaganda. He doesn't even know what that is. A joke for the sake of a joke turned out this way. The child didn't consider the consequences, and our system sprang into action," she explained. Since the boy had not yet reached the age of administrative responsibility and the case should therefore be dismissed, the police transferred the materials to the juvenile affairs commission.

The commission reviewed them and issued a warning to the student under the "LGBT propaganda" report. Under another report, for displaying extremist symbols, the juvenile affairs commission members decided that the child was "correctable" and raised the issue of transferring him to a special closed-type educational and correctional institution.

If this decision is approved, the child will have to continue his education at a boarding school for juvenile offenders.

"The prevention authorities believe that he should be rehabilitated exclusively in these centers," the lawyer says. "A special closed-type institution. [There] they live, study, and are treated by psychologists."

Furthermore, the child, who had participated in academic competitions and won creative competitions, has already been registered as a juvenile offender. "The boy was an excellent student, with good references, and then something clicked, his hormones kicked in—he wanted to make a joke, to say something. Adults thought it was a big deal, that he was promoting something," explains the child's lawyer.

Now the lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the Juvenile Affairs Commission's decisions.

"The internet is so accessible to everyone. Of course, there are questions for the authorities: why don't they block these videos that, to put it bluntly, promote non-traditional relationships? Even children can go online, discover things, and then show them to someone. And the authorities consider this a kind of propaganda," the lawyer says.

The schoolboy's mother confirmed that an investigation is underway against her son, but declined to provide details, explaining that it is "classified information."

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