Russian rapper jailed for performing in the street
MOSCOW: One of Russia’s most popular rappers was sentenced to 12 days in prison on Thursday for performing in the street after a string of his concerts were reportedly cancelled under pressure from authorities, his lawyer said.
Dmitry Kuznetsov, better known as “Husky”, was detained late on Wednesday as he rapped to a crowd of young people from the roof of a car in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar.
The venue where he was due to perform had cancelled the concert at the last minute under pressure from officials, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
A video on social media showed police detaining the rapper as he sang “I will sing my music” to chanting crowds.
A court in Krasnodar sentenced the 25-year-old rapper to 12 days’ jail for “hooliganism”, his lawyer Alexei Avanessian told the Interfax news agency.
At a second hearing, however, Kuznetsov was acquitted on a charge of organising an unlawful gathering.
A third hearing will be held for “refusing to submit to a medical examination”, according to the Mediazona news site.
Husky, on a tour of 16 Russian cities, has said venues in several places have cancelled his concerts in recent months under pressure from law enforcement agencies.
A growing number of Russian young people have complained in recent years about security services interfering in their lives — from teenagers arrested for posts on social media to threats of bad grades for opposition activities.
Husky was born in 1993 in eastern Siberia. One of his first songs, written when Husky was still at school, was critical of President Vladimir Putin.
This year, he performed in a play directed by Kirill Serebrennikov — a theatre and film director under house arrest on charges his supporters say are part of a crackdown on artistic freedom.
But Husky straightforward figure.
As a journalism student, he reportedly travelled to work for Russian state media in rebel eastern Ukraine after saying he sympathised with separatist leaders there. — AFP is not a opposition