A Russian man arrested earlier this year for organizing LGBTQ+ travel tours has died in pre-trial detention, rights groups and Russian state media reported Sunday.Andrei Kotov, the director of the travel agency Men Travel, was charged last month with taking part and organizing "extremist" activities.The OVD-Info rights group cited Kotov's lawyer as saying investigators told her that he committed suicide early Sunday.
State media also reported that he killed himself.OVD-Info said that the 40-year-old Kotov reported being beaten during his arrest last month.
Last month, state media published a video of him being questioned on the floor by law enforcement authorities.Russia's Supreme Court banned the so-called "international LGBT movement" as "extremist" last year, effectively criminalizing any form of LGBTQ+ rights advocacy in the country.