Activists say police in Belarus beat LGBTQ+ people while arresting and charging them

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Rights activists in harshly repressive Belarus say police recently subjected at least 20 LGBTQ+ people to questioning, during which some were beaten and were charged with crimes. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Belarus in 1994, but animosity toward sexual minorities is high. Belarus this year passed a law declaring depictions of homosexual life to be pornography, with a penalty of up to four years in prison. Two of those rounded up by police have been charged with distributing pornography and eight with hooliganism, according to the TG House Belarus transgender rights group.