European Court of Human Rights : Yevstifeyev and others v. Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on 3 December 2024 delivered a judgment concerning allegations of the Russian State’s inadequate response to incidents of homophobic speech. Four applicants alleged that the Russian authorities failed to comply with their duty under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to protect them from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. The ECtHR found a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in combination with Article 8 ECHR (right to privacy) as to to the unsuccessful legal actions against the homophobic insults and threats against three of the applicants during a demonstration. With regard the complaint by the fourth applicant about a video on Instagram showing a comic actor hunting gay men in a forest, the ECtHR was of the opinion that the contested video did not have as its purpose the propagation of homophobic views and ideas, as it was apparently a provocative political satire and a parody on a matter of public interest. Therefore it dismissed the fourth applicant’s complaint regarding the alleged failure by the Russian authorities to protect his rights under Article 14 and Article 8 ECHR.