The week at a glance ... International

International

Moscow

Gay activist kidnapped: Russia’s most prominent gay-rights activist said he was kidnapped and held for two days last week by people he believes were government agents. Nikolai Alekseyev said he was stopped by airport security before boarding a plane in Moscow and was handed over to four men in suits who took his cell phone. News agencies received text messages from that phone saying that Alekseyev had fled abroad and had dropped his case against the Moscow city government, which he is suing at the European Court of Human Rights for the right to hold gay marches. Reporters who doubted the authenticity of the texts began to ask probing questions of authorities. “They let me go, as I understand, because of the noise that was raised over my detainment,” Alekseyev said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us