A film exposing how gay teens are lured, kidnapped and tortured in Russia received its US TV premiere on HBO last night (6 October).
Hunted: The War Against Gays In Russia aired to critical acclaim following its showing on UK television earlier this year.
They create profiles on social media, seduce young men into meeting them for a 'date', before they would be capture the victim and torture them on video.
The vigilante groups posted the horrific clips on the social networking site VK. Because of this, many of the men featured in the video were outed, forced to leave their jobs, and some committed suicide.
The group claimed they were targeting pedophiles, not gay people.
'The vigilante groups are proud of what they do,' Hunted director Ben Steele said on The Daily Show.
'They believe that they are carrying out good acts, and they believe that they're acting in the name of the majority of Russian people, and they believe they have the tacit support of the Russian authorities.'
When host Jon Stewart asked how he was able to film the acts, Steele described it as a 'long negotiation process over several months'.
'I can speak Russian so I was able to build more of a dialogue with them and explain I was there not to pass judgement. I'm there to film what's happening so that I can show it to the rest of the world. It's up for the viewer to judge the rights and wrongs and the merits of what they're doing.'
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