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A Russian man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay customers was found dead in custody in Moscow, rights group OVD-Info reported Sunday, amid a crackdown on LGBTQ2S+ rights in Russia.
According to OVD-Info, which tracks political arrests, Andrei Kotov — director of the “Men Travel” agency — faced charges of “organizing extremist activity and participating in it.”
OVD-Info said an investigator told Kotov’s lawyer that her client had died by suicide early Sunday while in pretrial detention and was found dead in his cell.
Prior to Kotov’s death, independent media outlet Mediazona reported earlier this month that Kotov had rejected the charges and said in court that law enforcement officers beat him and administered electric shocks during the arrest, even though he didn’t resist.
Just over a year ago, Russia’s Supreme …
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