Sorry it took me a while.
Can you talk now?
Yes...
Tell me how critical the situation is and...
why you assume your father is a threat.
My uncle found out about my sexual orientation.
He says if I don't have sex with him, he'll tell my father.
And if he does...
my father won't tolerate it.
He's in the Chechen government.
He's going to kill me for sure.
If I leave on my own,
I'm no professional, I don't think I can cover my tracks.
He'll find me.
He'll find you.
Do you want to be relocated to a different region of Russia?
No, I want to leave.
I'm scared.
We're coming, Anya.
Stay strong.
At the end of March,
we began receiving information from Chechnya,
in the south of Russia,
about the mass detention of gays.
Initially it was just bits of information.
People being detained, tortured, electrocuted...
on orders of the Chechen leader.
Resisting the Chechen police is totally useless.
It's a disgrace to be gay in Chechnya.
And for a family to find out that someone is gay?
It is a shame so bad,
it can only be washed away by blood.
Russian Federation officials did nothing to stop it.
Everything happened so fast.
Could anything have prepared us for what happened in Chechnya in 2017?
And what happened afterward?
No.
Come here! Bring that fag into the light!
Turn the lights on! Turn the lights on!
I've been looking for you for three months.
All our problems are because of people like you.
Tell us what you were doing.
Were you kissing him?
Tell me what he was doing.
He was trying to kiss me.
I swear, no.
You were kissing him?
No, I swear.
Let me punch that thing in the face.
We're going to kill you!
Imagine in the 21st century...
in a supposedly secular country, you have cases where people are killed
simply because they are homosexual.
Where they are maimed...
Where the families of these people
are urged to kill their children and siblings.
It's unreal.
Chechnya is a largely Muslim state.
It's a completely closed society with its own customs and language.
Everything started by chance.
In the winter of 2017, there was a drug raid.
And when the Chechen police took one person's phone,
they found explicit gay photographs and text messages.
That's how this story began.
They tortured him, forcing him to turn in others.
It was a chain reaction.
People were arrested, and each one turned in another 10 people...
who automatically got tortured.
Later, they were given to their relatives,
who were advised to kill them.
We made a decision to rescue people and get them out of Russia altogether.
And there's nothing better than word of mouth in Chechnya.
My phone number went from person to person.
People sent messages.
We had to create something that never existed before.
We decided to set up a secret shelter in Moscow.
In two weeks, we got 15 people out of the Chechen Republic.
And that was just the beginning.
Hey, Olga, how are you?
How are all our "friends" doing?
How is everything with you, all good?
Hey, yes all is well.
Olga, bad news. His visa was denied again.
So what are you going to do with him?
He can't just stay in the shelter forever.
Hello.
Which country are you going to?
Canada.
Wait, to Canada? I thought it was Belgium.
So on Tuesday and Wednesday you'll have orientation.
And fly out on Thursday if you have a ticket.
I'll double check now.
-Did you have your physical exam? -Yes.
When it all started,
we all understood it was a catastrophe...
that it was a question of saving not just two or three people,
but hundreds of people.
We had to hide them because they were being hunted.
We developed strict security protocols.
Now we are about to do emergency placement,
and try to get the international community involved.
-I'll be here? -Yes, we are in the same room.
You know what, I'll give you my bed.
It's like a Telenovela here.
This is for German television, right?
Yes.
-So my face won't be visible? -Of course not.
-Will they change my voice? -Of course.
Maybe I should take the jacket off? It's identifiable.
-That jacket? -Yes.
He'll be in the dark, right?
It won't be visible, right?
No, it won't be visible.
I know this is difficult for you, but it's very important.
We want to help.
Tell us what happened to you.
Well, it started in February. I met this guy online,
and then we went to his place.
I entered his studio apartment.
And the police were in the bathroom.
They tied me up and took me to Argun Prison.
Every room had six or eight people.
I nearly passed out.
The smell was unbearable.
They said if I don't want to be tortured
then I have to turn in others like me.
They obviously didn't believe that I didn't know anyone.
So they tortured me.
They would tie wires to these fingers
and electrocute us.
They broke my nose, too.
And once we recovered, they started again with electric shock and batons.
I felt sorry for the people who were tortured worse.
They put a rat on someone's back and a pot over it.
Then they heated up the pot.
The rat would claw through the back trying to get out.
I heard someone died that way.
But a lot of people died there.
Some couldn't bear the torture.
They said that this can't go on,
that people like me should be killed.
They said that we aren't Chechens.
We're here today to thank our great patriot,
our great national leader, our commander-in-chief, Vladimir Putin.
We will never forget the very tough times our people went through,
and how our President Vladimir Putin always supported us.
It's obvious where Putin stands.
If they told him gays are being killed, he wouldn't give a damn.
Putin uses homophobia and "traditional values"
as tools to consolidate his power.
Kadyrov just takes it all to the extreme.
Why the fuck are you dressed like that?
I'm coming from a costume party.
Take that.
Being gay, lesbian, or transgender in Russia
can get you killed or hurt.
And no one will be held accountable for it.
It happened under Stalin, Hitler.
And hello. Now Putin and Kadyrov.
It doesn't matter who.
The point is, a group of people is identified for extermination.
Without charge or trial.
That's it.
Kadyrov and his people openly say they are cleansing the republic.
For them this is a noble cause.
Is Putin responsible for what's happening in Chechnya?
Let's say he isn't the torturer.
But is he responsible for what's going on in his country? Yes.
He doesn't mess with Kadyrov because Kadyrov does his bidding.
It's politics.
People have nothing to do with it.
We have soup. We have noodles. Take what you want.
We're pretty safe here. Nobody knows the address.
Well, they already came here more than once.
Only as far as the guardhouse.
And a second time when we were alone here,
there was a strange noise at the door, and a key started to jiggle.
She told me not to open it.
-Of course you shouldn't. -I would have opened it.
It's one thing to talk about the dangers and risks,
and it's completely different when something fucked up is actually happening.
If they want to get us, they will.
They won't make a scene.
Instead they will wait for one of us, someone specific, to leave the shelter.
There could be some dude on my train, who gets off at my stop.
The door closes and you disappear like you were never in Russia.
That's only if you're from Chechnya.
I'm not from Chechnya.
I've traveled around Russia a lot in the past five years,
working as a presenter and event planner.
And I went to Chechnya for my job with the All-Russian Honey Fair.
I liked Chechnya a lot.
The people were great
their kindness and their readiness to help, I mean ordinary people.
And so, when the gay persecution began,
it was a huge shock for me. I couldn't get how these kind people...
could treat people so violently... with such cruelty.
Gay people who never did anything to them.
Being abducted and tortured changes you.
That period of time broke me really hard.
When I was leaving Chechnya, I could barely crawl.
What got me through it was thinking of my boyfriend.
We've been together for 10 years.
I'm glad he wasn't with me in Chechnya.
We haven't seen each other for a year,
but he's coming early in the morning from our hometown up north.
I want to see him so badly.
I'm really anxious right now.
When I called to wake him up so he wouldn't miss his flight,
his entire family was up and seeing him off.
Do they know that he's moving to be with you?
Yes.
It's hard to leave everything behind.
I mean, he didn't have to come.
He was supposed to get another degree, but dropped out
just so he could come with me.
Is this one yours?
No. You'll see a guy with a guitar.
I'm waiting for my dumpling.
My hands are trembling.
I'm going to die right now.
There he is.
-Let me help you. -Take this.
Welcome.
Okay, enough, not in public.
-Nobody knows us here. -I don't care.
Everyone in the shelter takes a new name, to be safe.
So who else could you be?
-Doesn't matter. -Well, just think about it.
-What? -Donald Duck.
-Verona. -That will stick.
I don't think so, but Grisha stuck to me.
Feels like I was born with that name.
Avaz?
Agap, Augustin, Abram.
No, not those.
Bahram, Boris, Bles, Borislav,
-Bogdan. -Bogdan! Bogdan!
Let's do Bogdan.
An excellent name.
You think so?
100%.
I leave my stuff here, on top.
See if there's room.
What are you doing?
You're so strong.
What else happened during this Canadian orientation?
They explained how to behave and what it's like there.
Everything's expensive.
We'll all be hobos.
There's just two things we can't escape there.
Death and...
taxes.
How to act with Canadians...
You need to smile, maintain eye contact, and respect personal space.
These are from a month after they released me.
I had serious bruises on this leg.
They hit me with clubs.
Your legs look so swollen, it's crazy.
This scarring, I had bruises there for a long time.
Here was a very serious bruise, the whole leg.
When they grabbed me, I was actually at work.
They came at night, grabbed me by my arms.
"Let's go!" And dragged me.
There was a fence there.
Four of them threw me over the fence and stuffed me into a car.
They interrogated and threatened me.
They took my phone and asked about every contact.
"Who's this, who's this, who's this?"
Then they found the chat history with this guy I was talking to,
and we immediately started driving to get the guy.
I called him and I told him to come out,
I'm on my way.
That's it. They grabbed him and brought us back.
They beat him brutally.
And then, when they figured that I didn't know anyone else,
then they beat me up.
I started to lower my hands to cover the blows.
They hit my hands. Here I have on this hand...
It was all torn here.
I had a piece of flesh hanging off.
I don't even know how to describe this pain.
I've never seen people getting beaten so brutally.
The 10 or so days that I spent there...
I was waiting every hour...
literally waiting for them...
to put a bag on my head, drive off, and bury me.
Because that's what they said: "You won't come out alive."
But they just released me, sent me to a bus station,
for me to leave Chechnya and never come back.
Plus, they filmed me saying
who I am, where I'm from...
what I've done.
"I was caught because I'm gay,
because I'm here in the republic."
Like, "Gays have no place here
and that's why I was brought here by the police."
You have nothing to worry about.
The scariest part is over.
-I love you. -I hope they get punished.
-I love you. -I love you, too. You're my hero.
And the tomatoes, where are they?
Sweetie...
Come on.
Hello.
Cutie pie.
Come on in, gorgeous.
Such a cutie patootie.
Such a good kid, but why are you so skinny?
Why hasn't Grandma fattened you up?
This is him fattened up.
Before the Moscow Community Center,
in my previous life, I worked in advertising.
And when I gave birth to Filip,
I realized that I want my child...
to grow up knowing other families like ours,
so that he didn't think he was abnormal,
an idea they like to force on us in this country.
He's very stylish. Look at the way he wears his hat.
We're all quite different.
I used to be a journalist,
and ran programs for transgender people.
We have photographers.
We have musicians.
A Russian language teacher became our evacuation coordinator.
A person from academia became our liaison with the embassies.
Attention.
Let's start with news from the battlefield.
In general, the situation...
isn't getting any better. We have more people asking for help.
We got a new guy, and a girl.
The guy has been very traumatized.
They are so scared that they won't even see a psychologist.
None of us had any experience hiding people,
or looking for visas and secret ways to get people out of the country.
Receiving 25 people a month...
That's a lot.
We had to establish connections with foreign partners.
They help us financially. They help us logistically.
We actually managed to unite almost all existing LGBT organizations in the world,
in order to evacuate people from Russia.
Finish your meeting.
Hang on, baby.
Good luck in Canada, you homos.
Don't fuck the first guy you see, okay?
The second guy then.
Yes, only with the second one.
You'll get there so sex-starved.
Not me.
But you bitches are so horny.
You usually hump the wall, right?
I hope they won't be making fun of my accent.
Well, after some time it'll go away.
Did you fill out the paperwork?
-No, I didn't. -Let's do it.
I think there's a sample, right?
Full first, middle, and last names?
Yes. Your real name.
I'm feeling sad today.
People live here for around two weeks, 15 days at most.
We became a family, even with difficult personalities.
So it's hard to leave now.
I got used to everyone.
Some can call and hear the voices of their relatives.
Even talk in their mother tongue.
But I can't anymore, I can't ever call anyone.
I won't have a chance to speak my language anymore.
And I will never in my life hear the voices of my relatives.
Oh, fuck. Grab whatever you see...
Bandages, everything you see.
He cut his wrist.
Bandages. Hurry.
Bring napkins please.
Are you fucking insane? Why are you creating problems for us?
Don't create fucking problems for us.
Fucking leave for Canada, or anywhere, but don't do this here.
-You'll have plenty of fucking time to die. -It's okay, it's okay...
There are other people here besides you.
No one is mad, but what was he thinking we would do?
There, my darling.
Talk to me. Talk to me.
Maybe we should call an ambulance for him?
We can't call the ambulance, we can't give the shelter's address.
Can't we take him to the emergency room?
We're not calling anyone, for now.
Let's go.
Canada is waiting for you.
-Have a safe trip. -Thank you.
I don't know what I would have done without you.
Oh, come on. Without us, you'd be doing something.
Good luck. Many of our people are already there.
You'll adapt there.
Don't disappear.
I'll come visit you.
Thank you for being so good.
May Allah keep you safe. Stay strong.
Alright. Let's go.
Be safe.
Good luck.
Genocide in Chechnya isn't only about gay men.
It affects lesbians, too.
They get locked up at home where they're battered.
No one hears anything about it.
And they simply die from physical violence.
Because no one can help them.
These girls, the women who decide to leave,
for them it's a very big step.
She can't travel on her own.
They require more intervention from the activists.
More immersion, more attention.
And it's a higher risk.
Anya.
I don't know how you could leave a girl in her situation.
Either she agrees to have sex with her uncle,
in exchange for silence about her homosexuality...
or she'll get the same as other girls like her.
To keep this a secret,
to wash the disgrace from her family,
they will quietly, discreetly kill her.
Her father is a high-ranking official.
He has access to practically every resource.
We didn't have much time because of this.
Maximum, we had two or three hours to remove her from the republic,
and take her as far away as possible.
Welcome to Chechnya.
I brought two teams.
One team to distract, and the other to extract.
They would pretend to be family friends taking her dress shopping.
-Thank God. -Hello.
Finally.
-Sit. -We'll sit for a bit.
Can I take your phone?
How is everything?
Is everything great? That's great.
It's all great.
We'll go get you some new clothes.
You'll tell us everything. It's a long road.
We'll follow them in case there's trouble.
At any moment they could call her, realize the number isn't available,
and alert the checkpoints.
Take us to Vladikavkaz.
To a dress boutique.
We'll meet up with them and then race to the airport.
-What should I say? -That you're going to see a friend.
Today or tomorrow, they'll put you on a federal wanted list.
We have to get you hidden somewhere.
Just smile and be calm.
Something wrong with the passport?
What town are you from?
Grozny.
What's the purpose of flying to...?
Relatives.
For how long?
For a day.
Fuck.
It's all good.
Good job.
I know it's not fancy.
It's just that I have never been left alone at home, so...
Hopefully you'll only be in this country for a short time.
You're here because if you'd gone to Moscow or St. Petersburg,
then we wouldn't have been able to leave Russia.
By now, your father has reported you to border patrol.
Tomorrow we'll begin working with...
We'll send them your case.
We'll be working closely with them.
But it'll take some time. I can't guarantee it will be quick.
Being alone is hard.
The local group will get you anything you need,
so you don't have to leave.
Don't go outside.
-You'll need patience. -What?
This is just the start, the very beginning.
Now, you need patience.
And understand that everything we're doing is for your safety.
Because if they find you and take you back,
a second chance is very unlikely.
Olga, let's tune the piano sometime.
I should probably warn my mom at least...
-Yeah, are they even expecting you? -Yes.
They're probably going crazy already. I'll call them.
I'm so nervous, like I'm going to see her for the first time.
I was very surprised that Grisha,
he's ethnically Russian.
His connection with Chechnya is very indirect.
He worked there, but didn't live there.
Nor was he born there.
When Grisha disappeared in Chechnya,
his relatives filed a missing persons report.
And after he was freed from Chechnya,
police realized letting him go was a mistake.
Where they imprisoned him and what happened to him there
could be revealed outside of Chechnya.
If this came out, it would be a scandal on the federal level.
They were calling Grisha, threatening to kill him.
At some point, his relatives began receiving threats.
The Chechen police threatened to burn their houses, kill their kids...
And their goal was to bring him back to Chechnya,
and silence him forever.
So, a month after he came to us,
it became obvious it wasn't just Grisha we had to take out of Russia,
but his entire family.
We put them all in Moscow safe houses, trying to figure out what to do next.
Guess who?
-You're so beautiful. -Of course.
His mom, she didn't have an easy time accepting that...
her son is gay.
She had a hard time accepting it, but she did.
because he's a brother, he's a son,
and regardless of what he is, they stand by him.
And he stands by them.
This isn't bad. There's a lot of space.
Your uncle really missed you.
Did you find a new boyfriend yet?
No.
Then are we going to bring Yegor with us?
He doesn't want to come?
Did you call him?
No.
That's it? Love is gone?
I apologized to my sister a lot for all that's happened.
She had to leave the man she loved.
Is that where you live?
-No. -You live here?
With Grandma on the bed.
You live here.
Leaving is very difficult,
to leave your home, everything you own
I didn't want any of this to happen.
Where's Tikhon? Is Tikhon there?
What is Tikhon doing there?
Is Tikhon smiling?
Every one of these people...
used to live a very different life.
One had a profession,
another was well-off.
Who are they now?
They all are refugees now.
And it's difficult to be a refugee, wherever you are.
What color is it? I'm afraid to ask.
Well, I don't know what I'll end up with.
It's supposed to be red.
Red?
Damn, I need a fork.
Forks are there.
I know...
Are you going to eat?
There's also fish, macaroni...
We made pizza yesterday.
Grisha also left you some pizza...
Look at this.
They say he's disappeared.
-Who is it? -Zelim Bakaev.
Handsome guy.
What do you mean disappeared?
There hasn't been news about him for 10 days.
Famous in Chechnya.
Famous enough.
He was also gay?
It's not even clear.
Look. What do you think?
Chechen pop singer Zelim Bakaev disappeared from the Chechen capital.
In early August, the young man arrived in Grozny for his sister's wedding.
At some point he went out and never returned.
Today his mother appealed to the head of the Chechen Republic.
The only thing she's asking for is help in finding her son.
Ba-Ba-Ba-Bakaev?
I saw him once, when I met with the artists.
He came to visit me. I have a photo with him.
Hey, Kadyrov, free Bakaev.
If you don't give him back, you'll regret it.”
They should look for him within their family.
There are many theories about what's happened to him.
But nobody has reliable information.
Well, eyewitnesses did see Chechen police detain him.
We have no doubt it was due to his sexual orientation.
Hi, everyone. I'm Zelim Bakaev.
I'm 26 years old.
I've been interested in music since I was a child.
I used to dance to Michael Jackson,
and liked to imitate Hollywood stars.
I want everyone to feel the emotions that I put into my songs.
Handsome.
Can I see?
Now we know why he came here.
And what he's getting at with these questions.
This is nonsense.
We don't have such people here.
We don't have any gays.
If there are any, take them to Canada.
Praise be to God.
To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them.
They made it up. They are devils.
They are for sale. They are subhuman.
God damn them for slandering us.
They will have to answer to the Almighty for this.
Breaking news! The Kremlin says allegations about
the persecution of gay Chechens are unfounded.
According to the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov,
LGBT people are not being persecuted in Chechnya.
Today, the spokesman of the President of Russia said
that the Kremlin had no reason to doubt Kadyrov's words.
The Chechen government simply denies the torture.
They'll do whatever it takes to keep it a secret.
The only thing that could change that is if a victim of torture goes public.
We discussed this with everyone
who came through our organization.
But everybody knows that once they open their mouth,
they will become a target of the Chechen government wherever they go.
Why do we need a person to go public?
To start an investigation.
Because as they say,
No body, no case.
Someone tried to break in?
Thank god you locked the doors.
Are you okay? What happened?
A few men came to our door.
And one man asked the other,
"Are you sure he lives here? Did you see him come in?"
"Maybe he's sleeping, why isn't he answering?"
They rang the bell and wouldn't let up.
They said they'll return tomorrow morning at 8:00,
and if he's not here, someone will pay.
This is what we've been dealing with.
That's why we're so alarmed.
It's not good, right?
Nothing funny about this.
God willing, we'll be okay.
The search for me has started.
David said, "Go immediately."
Without any discussion.
We'll move you tonight and you'll fly out tomorrow.
You need to leave right now.
Go pack your luggage!
Okay, let's go.
If you need anything... call us. Go, go, go.
Don't talk to the police.
Don't listen, don't react.
We can't panic.
Don't panic.
Where are you putting him?
Look out the window.
Can you see?
Keep looking.
It'll be cool when we take off.
I'm having a panic attack.
Okay, finally.
I'm all sweaty.
Goodbye, Russia.
-Hello, do you need help? -No.
I'm a hero.
Thank you. This way?
I'm Kaper.
Hi.
-What is it again? Kaper? -Kaper.
There's a washer, laundry detergent.
You have food for now.
Potatoes...
Here's one towel, here's a second one.
You'll get Christina's phone number. She'll help you.
Okay, pull yourself together.
-Should we leave you for a bit? -No, we're fine...
It's just we've been through a lot.
Everything's okay.
You just need to get used to it.
Your apartment is rented for six months.
Let's see what you have here...
A fridge.
It's safe to drink the tap water.
All right, get some rest.
We'll bring groceries.
-I don't know how I feel... -About what?
You didn't expect it to be this way?
Maybe moving here was a bad idea.
Bad?
I don't know. So many doubts.
Maybe I'm just afraid.
-Probably. It's going to get more serious... -Choosing a small country over...
You know what else I want to tell you?
It was not about the country. We fled because of the people.
It happens in every country.
A person gets some power...
and starts abusing it.
And now there's no going back.
It's not that...
You'll go through the procedure on Friday.
-What kind of procedure? -I'm going to tell you.
Tomorrow you will meet with two lawyers.
They'll explain how we'll go to the border patrol
and ask for asylum.
People here are friendly.
Don't be upset that they don't smile.
People are friendly. It just takes time.
We're all worried.
They'll be searching for us.
They'll do everything they can to shut me up.
I know this for sure.
It was a difficult decision.
I didn't tell Bogdan or anybody at first.
Because to me the most important thing was their safety.
I finally decided to go to court, fight for my truth, fight for my rights.
I wholeheartedly believe that...
the law is fundamentally just, and we can prevail.
If I can't protect myself now,
then I'll have to be running my whole life.
And that's not an option.
Besides you, we unfortunately don't have anybody else who will come forward.
I see.
That's really scary.
The goal was not to force others to press charges,
but to save them from being killed.
Damn, my whole body's shaking. Hold on, I'll calm down.
It's all fine.
I just have to gather my thoughts.
Whenever you need me, I'm ready.
Okay, Grisha, here's the deal.
We're going to secretly fly you to Moscow,
I'll come get you so we can get started.
We will request government protection.
You might have to be here a while.
Do you want to turn the camera on?
How's your visit to Grandma's?
Little guy, I understand that you miss me very much...
Baby, I have to run. There's an emergency at the airport.
I'll come as soon as I can.
One of the girls who asked for our help, a girl named Leeza,
she was here for a day.
We changed her appearance a little. Cut her hair, threw some glasses on her.
And bought her a ticket on a religious bus tour.
And she's been far away from here this entire time.
And we were moving her yesterday.
But police detained her in Minsk.
They grabbed her and there was her father.
There was an hour-long interrogation,
after which she came out in tears
saying she's voluntarily returning with her father.
That's it.
Hello, hello.
I'm heading to the police station to file a missing persons report.
I assume she'll fly through Moscow on the way to Grozny, right?
I'm going to check the flights.
I'll be writing it now.
Okay, let's go.
We want to submit a missing persons report.
Is it enough to put down my initials?
My full name?
Olga Baranova.
Yes.
Why aren't you specifying your relationship to her?
Tell me what to specify and I will.
-Do you know her personally? -Yes, of course.
Where and how did you meet?
I met her here in Moscow, when she came from Grozny.
-So she's your acquaintance, right? -Yes.
-This Leeza? -Yes.
Did she say why she stopped communicating with her relatives?
Yes.
They're threatening her. I have it written down.
Threatening with what?
They found out that she's a lesbian and threatened to kill her.
People like that can't live in Chechnya.
-And you want to find out if she... -...has departed or will depart.
I checked everything.
Well, then what can we say?
That's it?
We lost her.
Anya, how are you feeling?
David?
Hello.
What do you want to say?
You thinking?
I wanted to ask about the apartment.
I'd like to move to one with...
maybe some more space to walk around in.
I'm getting claustrophobic.
Three months in isolation is too much.
I'd like to go for a walk.
I just stay indoors.
I think I'm losing it.
Look, you're in a situation where you can't really take a walk.
Your safety is the priority.
Because if you are caught, then you're...
Then you're fucked.
It's the end.
I'm not going to party all day long.
We don't mean that.
It's just not safe to go out.
We've had people who've been kidnapped
while taking out the trash.
People have been attacked, people have been raped.
They will stop at nothing.
But we'll do what we can about the apartment.
And we still need a country to issue us a humanitarian visa.
We're trying, but it's getting harder.
Let's be honest.
We'll take the first country that agrees to take you.
You've got to be patient.
I'm sorry.
Did you disappear?
No, I'm here.
Okay, stay strong. Bye.
Thank you, David.
Don't scream, bitch.
Turn his fucking face this way.
Toward the camera.
Go ahead, fuck him, fuck him.
Take it in your ass, there you go.
All you bitches here will face the same fate.
Given the total impunity
for what's happening in Chechnya,
the same thing started in Ingushetia.
And Dagestan.
Why wouldn't the same happen in the streets of Moscow?
Or St. Petersburg.
Voronezh, Vladivostok.
If there's no punishment,
if LGBT people are regarded as subhuman,
if you can do anything to them,
it means that tomorrow, anyone can find themselves in the shoes of gay Chechens.
We need to keep this in mind.
I had a terrifying dream.
Kadyrov's people came to kill everyone who was still left.
We were in a basement somewhere.
We had been brought there by force...
When I was sitting here I was like, fuck.
I'm going to be all alone when you're in Moscow.
Damn, I'm so worried about this court case.
All these anxieties are just piling up.
The meeting is at 6:00 today.
-Which one? -With everybody.
-Yeah? -Regarding the press conference.
Perfect.
Kalyapin flew in, Kochetkov flew in.
Wonderful.
Be careful there.
-Is everything okay? -Couldn't be better.
Good afternoon, everyone.
The "gay hunt," which started this spring,
remains unsolved,
even though there is now a victim,
who has filed a criminal complaint,
and awaits justice.
Today, for the first time,
one of the victims will speak publicly.
Why did Maxim decide to go public?
Maxim will tell his story himself.
Maxim Lapunov.
In a word, they were preparing me to die.
They were beating me with batons.
Every 10 to 15 minutes someone would storm into the cell
screaming that I was gay and people like me should be murdered.
But the detained Chechens were beaten for days on end.
During my time there, there were 30 people or so.
Many were severely beaten. Many people tried to prove they weren't gay.
But all their attempts were useless.
Once they targeted you, you're done.
I still have nightmares about that time.
Every night, they brought in...
new people to accuse.
Those screams, begging for mercy
It still haunts me.
I implore the government and the media to investigate this atrocity.
I'm asking for one thing only: the triumph of justice.
We are all human beings, we all deserve basic rights.
If we just ignore this,
what will keep it from happening everywhere?
No one knows whose son or daughter will be taken next.
Thank you.
For the first time, a gay man has spoken openly about his torture in a secret prison,
and filed a complaint to the Investigative Committee.
The gay man who claims to have been tortured in Chechnya gave his name:
Maxim Lapunov.
He's been hiding and changing locations for six months.
With the help of several NGOs and the Russian LGBT Network,
Maxim has filed a lawsuit against the Chechen authorities.
Maxim Lapunov didn't publicly disclose where in Chechnya he was tortured.
He also withheld the names of his torturers,
hoping that the authorities,
having all the details, will start an investigation.
By showing his face,
Maxim became the symbol of the anti-gay purge,
but also a target for the Chechen authorities.
Maxim, you're a hero. Respect.
You did great.
We worked all the time, non-stop.
Some activists themselves became casualties.
Including myself.
I had to leave, too.
Because my family faces great danger in Russia.
There is a clear threat from Chechen strongmen,
that's the highest risk.
And the relatives of those we evacuated.
These are real threats.
Real dangers coming from their side.
One of the girls we helped escape,
relatives intercepted her and we thought
they would be returning to Chechnya through Moscow.
And I went to the police in Moscow.
And in my statement I had to give my information to the police.
An unavoidable error.
Later I heard from the same precinct in Chechnya
where they detained...
and tortured gays.
I received a letter from them, sent to my home address.
Chechnya has its own traditions, some of which we might not understand.
So, helping a girl to leave
is like taking away their property.
You are dishonoring the family.
So, for them it's...
a question of honor.
They have to punish me.
I woke up around 11,
I went into her room around 11:30 or 12:00,
to ask whether she had a lighter.
And she wasn't there.
She left at night or in the morning,
I don't know, I didn't hear anything.
Did she leave a note?
Voice message came.
Don't text me yourself,
I will text you.
Tell David to not make a fuss about it.
Everything's fine. I'll get in touch with you later.
I don't blame her. She's been waiting six months for a visa.
Nobody is taking this seriously.
No way.
Surprise!
I have no words... no words that are not offensive.
You fucking sneak.
Yesterday, I saw some comments online.
The first two or three people leave their comments,
then everyone attacks.
Guys, that's what we call "trolling."
Some dude left a long comment,
something like, "Dude, you earned my deep respect for what you did."
And, "Everyone else needs to shut the fuck up
because it takes guts to do that."
The very fact that you spoke up deserves respect.
As a mother, I am proud of my son.
I am proud that you stood your ground.
But every day, we were afraid that you would not come back alive.
According to Article 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,
the motion to start a criminal case by Maxim Lapunov,
dated March 21, 2018, is denied.
All parties will receive the written decision in three days.
And now the proceedings are closed.
We've learned the secrets of the Chechen Republic.
We know...
the faces of those to blame for these troubles.
We know practically...
the whole chain of events.
We know how...
to prove the guilt of these people.
But we don't know how to make
the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation...
accept the obvious fact of these crimes.
But we keep trying.
So what do we do now?
We've got to take language classes.
My mom and my sister have been
immersed in the language from the start.
And we are like two idiots who don't understand shit.
You can speak gibberish.
Is this all a big joke to you?
All this seriousness... I'm going crazy.
When I am being serious, you go,
"Enough of this depression, enough of this apathy."
"Seriousness is a drag."
And when I start joking, you go, "Is this a joke to you?"
You are whining for days, "What should we do?"
-And, "I've lost everything." -So what? Life is shit.
Yes I have, haven't I?
-What have you lost? -You lost everything, too. You had big plans...
You wanted to start an event planning company...
Forget about me, what have you lost?
Goals in life.
Set new ones.
And work toward them.
-Are you tired of fighting? -Yes, I'm tired.
It'll be 11 years this year for us.
And we have a big, bright future.
Sure...
I think he'll be hiding his entire life.
One way or another.
Of course, at some point in life,
he will end up in a safe country, some final destination.
He'll start building a new life with his husband.
But in his place, I'd be afraid to walk dark streets my entire life.
Even in my own shoes I'm a bit afraid.
But especially if I were in his shoes.
Let's get married by the sea.
We'll buy a house someday.
Want to live by the sea?
Well, there are other seas out there.
I am not saying to get a house right here.
I mean, by any sea. What do you think?
It's harder for me now than a year ago, that's a fact.
I'm tired.
It's harder to find money, harder to get visas.