The day of the opening of the Olympic Games, police in Russia arrested about 14 LGBT activists in two separate incidents. Ten of the activists were arrested in Moscow’s Red Square (video here)
for singing the national anthem while holding a rainbow flag. They were
taken to a local police station, where, they say, some were beaten and
threatened with both sexual assault and acts of physical violence.
Buzzfeed is reporting
that “Ulrika Westerlund of the LGBT organization RFSL, emailed to
BuzzFeed a transcript of a text message exchange she had with Russian
activists still in detention that reported at least two of the group had
been beaten and threatened with sexual abuse.”
Here is a portion of the transcript, via Buzzfeed’s J. Lester Feder. The “Me” is Ulrika Westerlund:
From them: Yes, in cage. They beated [sic] two of us
Me: oh no, who? What can we do? Can you keep reporting? Are all of you in the same cage?
Them: Two queers. Before that they took us upstairs and said that we have to “suck their cocks” and that we have to be burned. When we said that we gonna complain. So they bring us back to cage. So we don't let them close it without paper, pen and their names. So they beat two of us and then used cuffs
Buzzfeed adds that one of the arrested protest organizers reported
that “police officers almost broke two of the protestors’ arms by
closing the door of the cage, some were kicked by police officers while
handcuffed to the cage, and one protestor was momentarily choked by a
police officer placing his arm across his throat.”
Most or all of the arrested are believed to have been released.
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