“Rather than clamping down on political satire, the state should be using the machinery of justice to investigate the recent horrific reports of mass abduction, torture and killings of gay men in Chechnya.” “In its twisted definition of justice, the Russian authorities have chosen to use anti-extremism legislation to silence peaceful freedom of expression at a time when state-supported homophobia inspires violence across the country. ApRussian authorities ban Putin ‘gay clown’ meme but fail to investigate homophobic killingsĪfter the Russian government banned a digitally altered image depicting President Vladimir Putin wearing lipstick and mascara – widely reported in global media as a “gay clown” meme – Sergei Nikitin, Director of Amnesty International’s Moscow office, said:
