Five high-ranking politicians in the semi-independent Russian province of Chechyna are being charged with crimes against humanity, four years after the reports surfaced of a ‘gay purge’ taking place in the region.
The Guardian has reported that the German-led European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) joined forces with the Russian LGBT Network to file a 97-page charge, detailing the “persecution, unlawful arrests, torture, sexual violence and incitement to murder” queer Chechens have faced.
Although a previous complaint was filed in 2017, it was unsuccessful due to Russia’s withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the tribunal.