Several dozen demonstrators rallied in St. Petersburg to mourn Yelena Grigoryeva, an LGBT rights campaigner who was slain near her home in Russia's second-largest city.

The rally on July 23 came three days after Grigoryeva was found dead, apparently strangled and with multiple stab wounds, according to online newspaper Fontanka and a Facebook post by opposition campaigner Dinar Idrisov and the Russian LGBT Network.

Her death followed the circulation on the Internet of a "hit list" called Saw that threatened gays, lesbians, reporters, and others. Grigoryeva, an outspoken activist, was among those on the list.

Idrisov said the 41-year-old LGBT rights campaigner had received multiple threats online and through other means.

It is not yet clear whether Grigoryeva, a member of the St. Petersburg-based Alliance of Heterosexuals and LGBT People for Equal Rights, was targeted for her activism.

The Rosblat news outlet quoted authorities as speculating that the killing could have been a result of a personal conflict.

However, Marina Ken, one of the demonstrators, said that "Yelena was killed because she was not afraid to tell the truth about the subjects that are traditionally [not spoken of] in Russia and on the country's state TV channels." Read more via RFERL