Russian judge returns case to police in trial against LGBT activist who reposted articles by The Guardian and BuzzFeed

Ruling in a trial against activist Evdokiya Romanova, a judge in Kirov has returned the case to police for further investigation. Earlier this summer, law enforcement charged Romanova, an LGBT rights activist, with illegally spreading so-called “gay propaganda” among minors by posting hyperlinks to several news stories about the LGBT movement, including articles by The Guardian and BuzzFeed.

Romanova says her case was investigated with blatant procedural violations. For example, the linguists’ testimony against her was based on error-filled Google Translate versions of the posts and articles she shared on Facebook and Vkontakte. Additionally, Romanova’s Facebook page is closed to everyone except her friends, and she has only one underage friend on the network: her own brother.

“There’s a good chance that the police will stop their investigation and close the case,” Romanova says.

Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda” has been in place for four years now. In June 2013, over the objections of LGBT rights groups, the State Duma adopted a law prohibiting the dissemination of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientations among minors.”

Individual violators face a maximum fine of 100,000 rubles, legal entities can be fined up to 1 million rubles ($17,360), organizations can have their operations suspended for up to 90 days, and foreign citizens can be fined and deported. Since the law was enacted, 15 Russians have been fined for spreading “gay propaganda” illegally.