In St. Petersburg, a court sentenced street performer Darya Loginova, known by the stage name Naoko, to 13 days in jail. She had performed with the band “Stoptime,” singing songs by Zemfira, Pornofilmy, Monetochka and other musicians. Earlier, those performances had drawn a public complaint from Marina Akhmedova, editor-in-chief of the Regnum agency.
On October 15, Loginova was detained in St. Petersburg and taken to Police Station No. 78, where she was kept overnight. According to Fontanka, officers from Center “E” questioned her there. On the morning of October 16, reports said she was being charged under two administrative articles: public discreditation of the Russian Armed Forces and organizing the simultaneous mass presence of citizens in public places resulting in a breach of public order.
She was then brought to the Dzerzhinsky Court, which ordered her arrest under Article 20.2.2 of the Administrative Code. St. Petersburg police said the protocol on alleged army discreditation would be sent to court after her release. According to the outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti, similar protocols are also expected to be reviewed soon against the guitarist and drummer of Stoptime, who had performed alongside Loginova.
“In short, they were not formally prosecuted for singing songs: performing songs by ‘foreign agents’ is not prohibited by law. But the songs contained obscene language, so, theoretically, there were grounds for detention,” an OVD-Info lawyer told Novaya-Europe.
OVD-Info also said that street musicians in Russia had previously been detained under Article 20.2.2. According to the rights group’s assessment, Loginova could face a fine of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles under the army discreditation article, while Article 20.2.2 allows for up to 15 days of arrest, a fine, or compulsory labor.
Loginova is 18 years old and studies at the Rimsky-Korsakov Music College. In September, she became a prize winner of the Russian Student Spring festival as the writer and performer of an original song. Videos of her street performances circulated widely on social media, including renditions of songs by Pornofilmy, Monetochka, and Noize MC. One widely shared clip showed the musicians performing Noize MC’s “Kooperativ ‘Swan Lake,’” a track a court banned in May, saying it contained obscene language and fostered a negative attitude toward representatives of the authorities and the armed forces.