The Savelovsky District Court of Moscow refused to arrest journalist and LGBT activist Karen Shainyan in absentia. Mediazona found the relevant information on the court’s website.
As stated in the case file, Shainyan is accused of financing extremist activities (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code). The hearing on his case took place this afternoon. In connection with which the investigation was denied the arrest of the journalist in absentia, it is unknown.
The fact that a criminal case was opened against Shainyan in Russia became known in July 2023, when he was included in the Rosfinmonitoring list of extremists and terrorists. A month later, the journalist was put on the wanted list.
As Shainyan himself said in a conversation with Mediazona, the initial reason for the case was his donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. At the same time, according to the journalist, he is now accused not only of financing extremism, but also of “discrediting” the army.
Since 2020, the journalist has been running a YouTube channel with more than 200 thousand subscribers. The channel publishes interviews with LGBTQ+ representatives, and also publishes materials about the war in Ukraine. In 2021, Shainyan also created “Queerography,” a documentary series about the life of LGBT people in different regions of Russia, after which he launched a media about LGBTQ+ culture called just got lucky.
In April 2022, Shainyan was recognized as a “foreign agent”, after which the journalist was fined twice for posts without appropriate markings and for not submitting a “foreign agent” report to the Ministry of Justice. Currently, the Moscow courts have two more protocols against Shainyan under the article on violating the procedure for the activities of a “foreign agent” — hearings on them are scheduled for August 16 and 20.
Updated at 17:30 . Added comment by Karen Shainyan.