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Russia Deports German Citizen on ‘LGBT Propaganda’ Charges

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A German national convicted of “LGBT propaganda” has been deported from Russia's Far East, state media reported Tuesday, citing regional prison authorities.

Media in the Kamchatka region identified the man as Alexander Daniel Roth, 40, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Roth reportedly coordinated the German language program for the education ministry of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

The foreigner will return home via Moscow and Turkey on Tuesday evening, RIA Novosti quoted the regional branch of Russia’s Federal Court Marshals Service as saying.

A Kamchatka region court found the man guilty in early April of promoting homosexuality to a local resident via social media.

The defendant, who pleaded guilty, was ordered to be deported and fined 150,000 rubles ($1,900).

The incident is at least the second deportation of a foreign national from Russia on charges of LGBT propaganda in less than a month.

A court in central Russia ruled in early April to deport Chinese blogger Haoyang Xu for documenting his openly gay lifestyle with a Russian partner.

The rulings come months after Russia expanded its controversial “gay propaganda” law — which in its first iteration aimed to protect minors — to ban nearly all public expression of LGBT relationships and lifestyles.

The new rules allow Russia to expel foreigners who violate the so-called “gay propaganda” law.

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