Accused in Orenburg's Pose case sentenced to prison

The Central District Court of Orenburg has harsh sentences for employees of the Pose queer club in a case related to "extremist activity". Club owner Vyacheslav Khasanov was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony, administrator Diana Kamilyanova to six years and three months, and artistic director Alexander Klimov to two years and three months. All three were arrested.

The verdict was reported by ParniPlus. Upon release, the accused will be banned from working in the catering and entertainment sectors for two to three years. The Pose club case was the first indictment related to the "core" of a non-existent "extremist" organization known as the "International LGBT Public Movement". The employees were convicted under Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers organizing extremist activity.

The court's press service released a statement on the verdict. In addition to imposing a de facto prison sentence, the court ordered the confiscation of more than one million rubles as "criminal proceeds" from Vyacheslav Khasanov. The essence of the "crime" was the organization of entertainment at the club: "...under the guise of running a nightclub, they organized events for an unspecified group of the venue's customers aimed at a common theme - demonstrating relationships with people of non-traditional sexual orientation."

It is the first criminal case of its kind since Russia banned the so-called “international LGBT movement” in November 2023.

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