A gay man was tortured and murdered in
the southern city of Volgograd, Russia.
According to Radio
Free Europe, officials have confirmed that the battered remains
of the man were found on May 10.
Two men have been arrested in
connection with the crime.
Investigators said that the three men
were drinking on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day, a day set aside to
remember the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany, when the unidentified
victim, 23, told his friends, aged 22 and 27, that he was gay.
The victim allegedly was beaten and
sodomized with a beer bottle, and his skull was smashed with a stone.
Reuters
reported that the man's body was found in the courtyard of an
apartment building and that he had also suffered blows to the genital
area.
Nikolai Alexeyev, a gay rights
activist, told the Interfax news agency that a proposed bill which
seeks to outlaw “homosexual propaganda” to minors would increase
such attacks.
“This monstrous incident in Volgograd
demonstrates the fruits of the homophobic policy that is being
conducted in this country, including the initiative to ban homosexual
propaganda,” Alexeyev said.
Such laws are already in place in
several Russian cities and parliament could approve a nationwide ban
within weeks. The policy effectively prohibits activists from
demonstrating in public.