From the article: "This is thought to be the first time a European government has arrested, tortured and killed homosexuals since the days of Nazi Germany."

Sadly I don't think this sentence is very accurate.  If anything it is just more recent and systematic, but homosexuals have faced a lot of persecution over the years in MANY countries.  Read up sometime on the story of Alan Turing, perhaps one of the individuals who played the biggest role in the Allies defeating the Nazi's in WWII.  He was arrested for homosexuality, subject to chemical castration and then committed suicide.  In Britain.

In many countries gay men have been murdered with police turning a blind eye.  This happened in Australia in the 1980's and 1990's and is still happening today in many (predominantly Muslim) countries.  About a dozen or so countries still have the death penalty on the books for same-sex sexual activity.

Chechnya is the most extreme right now, but they aren't alone.