Russia: Street musicians jailed for a third time over anti-war songs
In response to the third time that Diana Loginova (aka Naoko) and Aleksandr Orlov, street music performers from the band Stoptime, are being held in administrative detention, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
“The repeated arrests of Naoko and her bandmates are punishment for their public performance which have become a breath of fresh air in a country gasping under repression and self-censorship.”
“Worse still, the authorities’ persistence in pursuing Naoko and her fellow musicians raises fears that they might be preparing criminal charges against them. Russian lawmakers have introduced so many repressive and vague laws that prosecuting someone for expressing anti-war views is little more than a technicality.”
“Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Naoko and Aleksandr Orlov and other street musicians detained for acts of anti-war protest, simply exercising their right to freedom of expression. Their only ‘crime’ is singing songs that challenge the suffocating official narrative.”
