Russian Journalists Protest Deportation of Gay Uzbek Reporter

Journalists and activists held a rotating series of one-person pickets outside the presidential administration offices in Moscow on Thursday, August 3, protesting the potential deportation of an openly gay journalist to Uzbekistan.Khudoberdi Nurmatov, who writes for Novaya Gazeta under the pen name Ali Feruz, was denied political asylum in Russia on Tuesday and ordered deported. Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, called on fellow journalists to support Nurmatov, who fears imprisonment and torture in Uzbekistan.Russian media reported that Nurmatov attempted suicide Wednesday in a bid to be sent to a hospital where he would feel safer than in the detention center where he is now held, according to one of his attorneys.Radio Free Europe reported that one activist was detained during Thursday’s protest (seen in the video). Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful