The Tchaikovsky sculpture on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street at the Moscow State Conservatory. Image – Getty: Yury Karamanenko
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Jobava: ‘A Limit on the Freedom To Publish’
The International Publishers Association (IPA) today (May 20) have released an expression of alarm about the wave of arrests of Russian publishing figures on charges relative to distributing “LGBT propaganda.”
In an account written by Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia director, it’s reported that “at least 10 book publishing professionals” have been arrested in the last week, apparently with some concentration among personnel of the major publisher Eksmo and others from Popcorn Books, which is owned by Eksmo.
The actions apparently are based in late November 2023, when the Associated Press’ Dasha Litvinova reported that the Russian supreme court had “effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism, the most drastic step against advocates of gay, lesbian, and transgender rights in the increasingly conservative country.” At that point, the court characterized the LGBTQ+ “movement” in Russia “as an extremist organization and banned it.”
On May 15, per Amnesty International, three people were formally charged—their names not publicly released—for “involvement in the activities of an extremist organization,” “participation in the activities” of that organization, and “organizing its work using [an] official position”. Zviagina there reports that those detained for questioning on May 14 included Anatoly Norovyatkin, Eksmo’s distribution director; Dmitry Protopopov, a co-founder of Popcorn Books; and Pavel Ivanov, a former sales director.
Einarsson: ‘We Stand With Our Arrested Colleagues’
Kristenn Einarsson
Kristenn Einarsson, chair of IPA’s Freedom to Publish committee and the founding CEO of Norway’s World Expression Forum (WEXFO, June 2 and 3), is quoted in today’s messaging from the IPA’s offices in Geneva, saying, “These arrests demonstrate the risks publishers now face in Russia.
“We stand with our arrested colleagues and urge the authorities to drop any charges.
“Russian readers are richer with a broad range of books which is best secured through the real freedom to publish.”
Gvantsa Jobava
And Gvantsa Jobava, IPA president, says, “The development of LGBTI laws in Russia and in other countries, like Georgia and Bulgaria, clearly represent a limit on the freedom to publish.
“Publishers should be attentive to the development of any similar laws in their countries and actively resist.”
Earlier this month, Lucy Papachristou reported for Reuters that AST—a publishing house in Russia’s Eksmo-AST group—had informed writer and professor Roberto Carnero in Italy that AST “would agree to publish his critical essay on the openly gay Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini only with severe cuts.”
Papachristou reports that the edited Russian edition of the book “showed significant sections were redacted with thick black lines, totaling some 70 out of 400 pages,” according to Carnero.
And in January, Caleb Davis reported for Reuters that “an independent Russian book publisher was under investigation for promoting ‘non-traditional sexual relations.'”
Popcorn Books, the Eksmo subsidiary, according to Davis’ report, “publishes stories that deal with LGBT relationships and self-identification,” and “began labeling covers with Article 29.5 of the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression,” apparently in resistance to the November 2023 ruling of the supreme court.
The IPA today quotes Amnesty International writing that “Since the ban came into force in January 2024, Russian authorities have launched at least 12 criminal cases, conducted raids on LGBTI venues, issued administrative fines and short-term detentions for displaying rainbow-themed symbols and forced the closure of LGBTI advocacy groups.”
In addition to film and other entertainment, the Russian crackdown on what it deems “LGBT propaganda” has affected the Apple corporation, too, a Reuters report from Monday (May 19) indicating that a Russian court “has fined US tech giant Apple 10.5 million rubles (US$130,483) in four separate administrative cases, three of which pertained to breaches of Russian rules on what Moscow calls ‘LGBT propaganda,’ the Moscow courts’ press office said on Monday.”
More from Publishing Perspectives on issues of the freedom to publish and freedom of expression is here, more on the International Publishers Association is here, and more on the World Expression Forum, WEXFO, is here. Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.