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.
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.
