Russian street musician found guilty of ‘discrediting’ the army after she played anti-Kremlin songs

A view of the Russian Military Academy of the Armed Forces in St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

ST PETERSBURG, Russia -- An 18-year-old Russian street musician jailed for nearly two weeks earlier this month for playing a banned anti-Kremlin song was found guilty on Tuesday of “discrediting” the Russian army and fined 30,000 roubles (US$369).

Diana Loginova, a music student who performs under the name Naoko with her band Stoptime, was arrested on October 15 after her performance of the popular song “Swan Lake Cooperative” by exiled Russian rapper Noize MC went viral on Russian social media.

Loginova served a 13-day jail sentence for organizing an unplanned gathering that blocked public access to the metro - an administrative, as opposed to criminal, offense. Two of her bandmates also served short jail terms.

Upon completion of her sentence, authorities charged Loginova with an additional administrative offense of “discrediting” the Russian military in connection with her public performance of another song, called “You are a soldier.”

The St Petersburg court found her guilty on Tuesday of “discrediting” the Russian army for playing that song.

The artist who wrote it, Monetochka, lives abroad and was placed on Russia’s wanted list last year. She has also been labeled a “foreign agent” by the Russian government.

A Reuters reporter in the courtroom said Loginova was not released from custody following the ruling on Tuesday. Instead, Interior Ministry officers drove away with her from the courthouse in a civilian car.

Loginova went viral earlier this month after video posted online showed her playing the Noize MC song “Swan Lake Cooperative” on St Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt as onlookers chanted along.

Noize MC is openly critical of the Kremlin and lives in Lithuania. Russian banned his song in May on the grounds it contained “hostile, hateful attitudes towards people” and promoted “violent changes to the foundation of the constitutional order.”

Last week, another young street musician, Yevgeny Mikhailov, was jailed for 14 days in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg after he performed songs by Noize MC and other anti-Kremlin artists in support of Loginova and her bandmates.

Mikhailov was found guilty of petty hooliganism and “discrediting” the Russian army, according to independent news outlet Mediazona.

(Reporting by Reuters in St Petersburg; Writing by Lucy Papachristou in Tbilisi; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)