A St. Petersburg singer whose anti-war songs and impromptu street gigs have drawn an impassioned following had her jail detention extended after a court ruled one of the lyrics in her music contained an expletive.
The case against Diana Loginova, who goes by the stage name of Naoko, has touched a nerve among a growing number of younger Russians, some incensed by the heavy-handed prosecution of a musician, some more broadly unhappy with the Kremlin’s police-state suppression of dissent and criticism of the government.
Earlier this month, Loginova, who fronts the band Stoptime, was found guilty of organizing a concert that obstructed a subway station and ordered held for 13 days of administrative detention.
Stoptime’s drummer, Vladislav Leontyev, and its guitarist, Aleksandr Orlov, received similar detention orders.
Some of Stoptime’s songs — their own, along with others by exiled musicians — include anti-war and anti-government themes.
On October 29, the day after Loginova’s previous detention ended, St. Petersburg’s Smolensky District Court ordered her held for an additional 13 days on a charge of petty hooliganism, after finding that one of the lyrics of her songs contained an expletive.
News reports said she received another 13-day detention order for “organizing a mass event,” as well, though it was unclear whether she would serve that concurrently.
Orlov was also ordered held for 13 days on the same charge of organizing a mass event.
Stoptime had built a loyal fan base in St. Petersburg and elsewhere for performing songs — their own and others — with themes opposing the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine and other anti-government messages.
On October 13, the group performed a street concert on the city’s famed Nevsky Prospekt, drawing a few dozens fans who loudly sang along.
The group is known for holding impromptu street concerts that are announced just a few hours beforehand using its Telegram channel.
The group’s arrest hit a nerve, with street musicians in other Russian cities performing in solidarity and criticizing Stoptime’s prosecution.
