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Ultra-Nationalist Russian Anti-Gay Leader Under Criminal Investigation- Reportedly Flees Country

Maxim Martsinkevich (Centre) with Ukrainian victims
Picture via VK.com & Spectrum Human Rights group

By Brody Levesque | MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian authorities have instituted criminal proceedings against the Russian ultra-nationalist responsible for several homophobic assaults on Russian LGBT persons, which also included attacks on citizens from Ukraine, Iraq, and South Africa.

Maxim Sergeyevich Martsinkevich, also known by his street nickname "Tesak," which translates as meaning hatchet/machete, has been charged under Part 1 of article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code; Incitement of ethnic and social hatred, which is  punishable by a sentence of 3–5 years imprisonment.

A spokesperson for the Russian federal prosecutors told LGBTQ Nation Monday that the case against Martsinkevich was initiated upon publication on the Internet of two videos that record the scenes of anti-gay assault and harassment of citizens of Ukraine and a citizen of Iraq.

Martsinkevich is depicted in the videos, participating in forcibly shaving the victim's heads in reverse Mohawk hairstyles, painting rainbow flags in the shaven areas along with forcing the victims to perform sexual acts with sex toys, pour urine on them, and have them make self-denigrating statements to the camera.

In the case of the Iraqi citizen, Martsinkevich is alleged to have sodomized the victim off camera with a police style baton he displayed before the camera and immediately after the victim's screams can be heard in the background. 

The Russian Interior Ministry acknowledged Monday that its officers conducted a raid and search last Thursday of Martsinkevich's apartment along with the apartment of his mother and that an arrest warrant for him has been issued.

Martsinkevich is no stranger to the Russian legal system. In July 2007, he was arrested and then sentenced to 3 years in prison under the same Criminal Code Article 282, part 1, when, as a leader of the far-right extremist group Format18, he had orchestrated the manufacture and sale of videos with scenes the torture of homeless people and Asian guest workers. The group also held a 'mock' hanging of an alleged drug dealer from the former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan.

Martsinkevich was released in December 2010, sometime after which he formed his current group, 'Occupy Paedophilia,' which has produced numerous videos on the Russian social media giant VK.com as well as YouTube, documenting the violent and homophobic harassment of men the group claims were seeking to have sex with minor boys. The graphic videos often go viral and have also been used to humiliate gay teenagers who responded to false dating invitations from what they thought were other gay youth in chat rooms.

Over the weekend, Martsinkevich claimed in a series of posts on his VK page, to have allegedly fled Russian territory to avoid the legal charges, posting pictures of himself on a beach in the Koh Chang Tai district in Thailand.

An official in Bangkok with the Royal Thai Immigration Service said that there was no recent record of Martsinkevich entering the country within the past fortnight although he has previously visited the kingdom according to Thai records.

An investigator with ties to the case, speaking confidentially as he was not authorised to comment to the press, told LGBTQ Nation that authorities doubt that Martsinkevich is outside of Russia. Instead the investigator said, it is believed that Martsinkevich is being assisted by members of his group inside the country to avoid prosecution.