A death of prison highlights the LGBTQ repression of Russia

The travel agency offered visits targeting only men, and this was enough to attract the attention of the police applying new Russian laws that restrict the rights of homosexuals.

One night in December, the police stated the assault insurance the owner of the agency and attached him, he later told a court.

“Fifteen people came to my house at night,” said owner Andrei Kotov. “They beat me in the face, kicked me and left bruises.” His comments were reported by the Russian media and confirmed by his lawyer.

Kotov said the police had put him on “admitting” that he directed a travel agency for homosexuals, which he denied. The police continued to beat him, he said, and said to him, “No trips for gays.”

A few weeks later, Mr. Kotov, then aged 48, was found dead in his prison cell. Prison officials told his mother that he had cut himself off with a razor, said his lawyer Leysan Mannapova. The circumstances of his death could not be determined independently and Russian officials did not respond to a request for comments.

The death of Mr. Kotov reflects an increasingly harsh repression in Russia on the rights of LGBTQ people who have been accelerating since the start of the war in Ukraine. President Vladimir V. Putin described new restrictions – and war – as part of a wider battle to maintain “traditional Russian values”.