Overview
- State investigators questioned CEO Yevgeny Kapiev and three senior Eksmo managers in a criminal case tied to books with LGBT themes.
- Eksmo said no search took place at its Moscow offices and no books were seized, a claim supported by AFP reporters who saw no raid activity.
- Local media had reported a police raid and the confiscation of thousands of books, a version now disputed by the publisher and AFP.
- Eksmo said the probe centers on titles from Popcorn Books, a youth imprint it bought in 2023 and closed this year, after some LGBT‑themed stock was sold without being logged.
- The investigation builds on tighter laws that ban approving depictions of same‑sex relationships and a 2023 court ruling that labeled the LGBT movement extremist.