Russia teen who sang anti-Kremlin songs in street gets more jail time
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Diana Loginova facing another public order charge in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Nov 11.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Diana Loginova, an 18-year-old street musician, received 13 more days in jail for a "public order offence" after singing anti-Kremlin songs.
- Loginova's performances of songs by exiled Kremlin critics, including Noize MC’s ‘Swan Lake Cooperative,’ led to multiple arrests and fines.
- Authorities in Russia have cracked down on critical voices since the Ukraine invasion, arguing for unity during a "proxy war with the West."
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ST PETERSBURG, Russia - A teenage Russian street musician who has already spent nearly a month in jail after singing anti-Kremlin songs was handed more jail time on Nov 11, in a case rights that activists say shows how stifling wartime censorship has become.
Diana Loginova, 18, who sings in a group called Stoptime, was arrested in her native St Petersburg in October.
She has already been jailed twice after performances in the heart of Russia’s second city where she belted out cover versions of songs penned by Kremlin critics.
A court in St Petersburg ruled on Nov 11 she should spend another 13 days in jail on a public order offence.
Alexander Orlov, the band’s guitarist and her boyfriend, was also handed another 13 days in jail by the same court.
Authorities in Russia have cracked down hard on critical voices since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022. They argue that society must be as united as possible, at a time when they say it is locked in a so-called proxy war with the West.
Loginova, a music student who performs under the stage name Naoko, was initially jailed for 13 days for a public order offence after her performance of a banned track, the Swan Lake Cooperative, by exiled anti-Kremlin Russian rapper Noize MC, went viral on social media.
The Swan Lake track got her into trouble because the famous ballet by Piotr Tchaikovsky is seen as a symbol of political change by some in Russia: it was shown on state TV after the death of Soviet leaders and during a 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president.
Loginova’s performance of another track disliked by the authorities - You Are A Soldier by singer Monetochka, who like Noize MC has left the country and is designated a “foreign agent” - got her into further trouble and saw her fined 30,000 roubles (S$479) for discrediting the army.
A court then handed her another 13-day jail sentence for “petty hooliganism” related to her performance near a metro station in central St Petersburg in October. REUTERS
