Feminist activist is tried on pornography charges in Russia over artwork

A RUSSIAN court has opened the trial of a feminist activist and artist charged with disseminating pornography after she shared artwork depicting female anatomy online.

The case is in line with the Kremlin’s conservative stance of promoting “traditional family values”, which has been widely seen as controversial and elicited international outrage.

Yulia Tsvetkova, 27, from the far-eastern city of Komsomolsk-onamur, faces up to six years in prison on charges reportedly related to her group on the popular social network, Vkontakte, where colourful, stylised drawings of vaginas were posted.

Tsvetkova is not allowed to give details of accusations against her.

The first hearing in the Komsomolsk-on-amur court yesterday came a year-and-a-half after Tsvetkova was first detained, and eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed constitutional amendments that outlawed same-sex marriage and tasked the government with “preserving traditional family values”.

Tsvetkova’s lawyer, Irina Ruchko, said after the hearing that Tsvetkova maintains her innocence and that her defence team intends to prove it in court.

Tsvetkova ran a children’s theatre and was a vocal advocate of feminism and LGBT rights. She founded an online group, called Vagina Monologues, encouraging followers to fight stigma and taboo surrounding the female body, and posted other people’s art in it.

Amnesty International last week called Tsvetkova’s case, which is being heard behind closed doors, “Kafkaesque absurdity” and urged Russian authorities to drop all charges against the activist, who was merely “expressing her views through art”.

Tsvetkova’s mother, Anna Khodyreva said that the court should dismiss the case.

“Yulia has always been against pornography... Feminists are against pornography because it’s exploitation of women’s bodies,” she said.

Tsvetkova was detained in November 2019 and spent the next four months under house arrest.

Her home was raided, as well as her mother’s education studio for children.