Russia sentences the owner of an LGBT nightclub and two employees under the ban on the "LGBT movement"

Russian courts have sentenced the owner of an LGBT nightclub and two of his employees to prison terms, in what authorities describe as the first criminal case brought under the ban on the "LGBT movement," which is classified as an extremist organization in Russia.

The court announced that the three defendants had been found guilty of organizing and participating in the activities of an "extremist organization" after a police raid two years ago on the "Pose" nightclub, located in Orenburg, in the southwest of the country.

The establishment's owner, 37-year-old Vyacheslav Khasanov, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined one million rubles, or approximately $12,755. The club's manager, 30-year-old Diana Kamilyanova, received a six-year and three-month sentence, while the artistic director, 23-year-old Alexander Klimov, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.

The three convicted men rejected the charges and pleaded not guilty.

For several years, Russia has been strengthening restrictions targeting LGBT people. Under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, the authorities present the rights of LGBT people as a Western influence incompatible with the country's "traditional values," which, according to the Kremlin, are based on family, nation, and the Orthodox Christian faith.

The decision marks a further step in the hardening of Russian policy towards the LGBT community, following the decision by the Russian Supreme Court to classify the "LGBT movement" as an extremist organization, paving the way for criminal prosecutions against those accused of participating in or supporting it.