Interview Putin’s Russia – Anti-gay Law – Direct Provision
Photo by Babs Daly.
Last January 35 year-old Evgeny Shtorn arrived in Ireland, having upended his entire life to flee Russia after he found himself in an impossible and possibly life-endangering situation. Before he was forced to leave his home, Evgeny worked at the Centre for Independent Social Research, a think tank which provides sociological research in areas that are not covered by official Russian academia, like LGBT+ studies or studies of racism.
Legislation introduced in Russia in 2012 under Putin requires non-profit organisations like the Centre for Independent Social Research, who receive foreign donations and engage in “political activity” to register and declare themselves as foreign agents. According to Evgeny: “On official levels they say that this law does not affect the physical person, it’s just against the organisations, but in reality it does. Everybody who works for these organisations is targeted as a foreign agent and is in danger.”