Transgender blogger arrested on porn suspicions
A blogger known as Hilmi Forks has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of producing and distributing illegal pornographic content.
The development was announced on Wednesday by Ekaterina Mizulina, the head of the Safe Internet League and member of the Russian Civic Chamber, who praised Russian law enforcement for their swift actions.
Hilmi was released on recognizance and barred from leaving the capital. The blogger is the subject of a criminal case, accused of producing and distributing porn on the Internet. The offense is punishable by jail time of up to six years, according to the Russian criminal code.
The transgender blogger, boasting more than 400,000 subscribers on Instagram, got onto the police radar early this year, ending up in administrative proceedings over the alleged spread of “LGBT propaganda,” which has been outlawed in Russia. The prohibition on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationship” among minors was first rolled out back in 2013, ultimately getting expanded into a blanket ban on such activities in late 2022.
Hilmi chose to flee the country before criminal proceedings could be launched, however, residing in Armenia for months. Earlier this month, the blogger opted to return to Russia and managed to get embroiled in a separate scandal, getting filmed scuffling with a man at a fast food joint in Moscow.
The blogger claimed he was insulted and assaulted by the man and then stalked by him before police intervened and apprehended the alleged assailant. Footage available online, however, does not corroborate such an account of events, showing Forks kicking the man and then demanding he "kneel." Moscow police did not confirm the blogger’s account either, telling local media they were not aware of the altercation at all.
