A resident of Nizhny Novgorod was arrested for rainbow earrings

A resident of Nizhny Novgorod received five days of administrative arrest. The reason was her earrings in the form of frogs, painted in the seven colors of the rainbow. The decorations provoked the discontent of passers-by – presumably supporters of the “Men’s State” movement banned in Russia.

On January 29, a video clip shot in one of the Nizhny Novgorod cafes appeared on the Telegram channel belonging to the founder of “Men’s State” Vladyslav Pozdnyakov. The authors of the video approached the girl with earrings and her friend, who had several badges on his chest, including one in the form of the Ukrainian flag. Unknown people in a rough form demanded to remove the “forbidden symbols”, and then forcibly tore the badge from the clothes of a Nizhny Novgorod resident.

After that, the girl was released for an interview at the Center for Combating Extremism, and, according to human rights activists, there, despite the efforts of the lawyer, she was detained and left for the night before the court. The next day, the court issued a decree on five days of arrest under the article on the public display of the symbols of an extremist organization.

A lawyer provided by the human rights organization “Aegis” reported that the court did not determine exactly which symbol was demonstrated, and that none of the interrogated employees of the law enforcement agencies, who drew up the protocol, was also able to name which symbol was demonstrated by the defendant.

• The “Men’s State” movement, founded by Vladyslav Pozdnyakov, opposed the ideas of gender equality, feminism, and tolerance. They threatened activists with violence, organized harassment of women and LGBT+ representatives. In October 2021, “Men’s State” was recognized as an extremist organization and banned on the territory of Russia.