Egor Panin was serially hospitalised, harassed and investigated as a result of being gay and wanting to lead his own life. A young man who grew up in Nizhny Novgorod, five years ago Panin sought to escape his controlling family after they found out he was gay. As a result, he found himself in a chain of hospitalisation, police questioning and harassment by family members who forcefully gave him medication that turned him, in his words, into a “vegetable”. In the two years since award-winning journalist Sergey Khazov-Cassia originally reported this story for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the case has sadly continued, with Panin and a friend who helped him still in hiding - and lawyers still fighting on their behalf.
This week, on 13 August, Sergey Khazov-Cassia will read extracts of his 2017 novel “The Gospel According To”, as part of an event exploring ongoing struggles for queer liberation ongoing in Russia and Poland. As the translator of the article and novel Reuben Woolley notes, the novel’s plot bears a striking resemblance to Egor’s real-life struggle, despite being written as the events were still unfolding. This event will also collect donations for the Moscow Community Centre, Russia’s only year-round shelter for LGBTQ+ people.
Panin’s story turns on the mechanisms of Russia’s criminal justice system, and the ways in which homophobia and bureaucracy manifest in that system. Once a criminal case in Russia is opened, it becomes incredibly hard to close, and the easiest way to do so – particularly from the perspective of lawyers and police officers – is to arrest and jail the suspect, regardless of their guilt or innocence. Fabricated and under-investigated cases can meet targets and complete statistics, which take precedence over achieving any kind of justice.
