Russia bans picture of Vladimir Putin in full makeup.
There’s a doctored image out in the world of Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing makeup and the Kremlin wants it never to see the light of day.
Last week Russia’s Ministry of Justice published a list of items it considers ‘extremist material’ and said disseminating any of them was considered criminal activity. There’s over 4,000 items in the ban, including Islamist literature, anti-semitic propaganda. Listed at No. 4071 is an image – almost certainly photoshopped – of Russia’s leader wearing full makeup.
The image was first published on the Russian version of Facebook, VKontakte, in 2014, by a now-banned user named Alexander Tsvetkov, along with a caption comparing gay people to Putin voters: “They say there are many of them, but there aren’t any among the people I know.”
The listing cites the image for raising the question of the “non-standard sexual orientation of the Russian president.” In Russia it is illegal to distribute “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” according to the country’s 2013 gay propaganda law. Those found guilty of distributing extremist material can be fined up to 3,000 rubles (around US$55), or jailed for up to 15 days.
A Russian court has banned an image suggesting Putin is gay & sentenced the culprit to compulsory psychiatric care. https://t.co/rUlOO5r6lp pic.twitter.com/hbkDHcndY5
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) April 5, 2017
