Russian journalist Elena Klimova who founded the website “Children 404” has been arrested in Russia according to Amnesty International.
Children 404 is a website that provides a “safe space for teenagers to share their stories, get support and obtain advice from experienced psychologists.” It helps LGBT youth to deal with discrimination, violence and psychological attacks and is credited with preventing suicides, preventing teens from running away from hope and helping to ease feelings of isolation.
On January 17 Klimova received a call from police asking her to come by for a chat. There she was told that they had received several complaints about the site from St
Petersburg’s Duma (parliament) member Vitaliy Milonov. She was told to shut down the site and related social networks and pay a fine for “propaganda”.
After explaining the purpose of the site, the investigator agreed that there were no grounds for criminal charges. However, on January 31 Klimova was summoned a second time by the same investigator and charged with “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations”.
Visit Amnesty International to join the international call to drop the “gay propaganda” charges against Elena Klimova. Hopefully international pressure can, eventually, get Russia to drop it’s backward pro-hate legislation altogether.