Thai authorities arrested Russian musical band “Bi-2” on the request of Moscow. The musicians may be expelled to Russia. They takes a strong anti-war stance and could face criminal charges there. 1/7
On 24 January 2024 the band performed a concert in Phuket, Thailand. Immediately afterwards they were arrested by the immigration police for performing without work visas. They were initially fined, but then nevertheless detained in Bangkok. 2/7
The Russian Consul General Vladimir Sosnov is actively seeking their deportation in coordination with Moscow. After the concert in Phuket, Consul General personally called the Phuket Immigration Department, demanding not a release with a fine but their expulsion to Russia. 3/7
The expulsion order only states that they are under the obligation to leave the country. Of their own will they would leave to a country different than Russia. However, when the tickets to Tel-Aviv, Israel, were bought, only one band member, Mr Igor Bortnik was allowed to travel.
The band had opposed the military invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Then their concerts were eventually canceled. Mr Bortnik, the band’s frontman, was designated a “foreign agent” for having opposed the war. 5/7
Then they were forced to leave the country. Last year they held 60 concerts. They are the first Russian musicians to be arrested abroad for their anti-war stance. 6/7
Urgent intervention is needed to prevent the expulsion to Russia as a punishment for their anti-war stance, as there is also a risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment in Russian detention. 7/7
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Today, I spoke at an event in Stockholm about our colleague, Ukrainian journalist Viktoriya Roshchina. I had to turn off the camera right after my speech because it was difficult to contain my emotions.
Today, 13 world media outlets published investigations about the capture and death of Viktoriya Roshchina. I will leave links in different languages in the comments. And I will say a few words from myself.
Viktoriya was young, talented, dedicated to the journalistic profession, and incredibly brave. I met her 11 years ago when she joined our campaign to release illegally detained people in Crimea and eastern occupied territories.
In the first year of the full-scale invasion, she went to the occupied territories herself to write about illegaly detained people and disappeared. We already know that she was abducted, tortured, secretly transported to Russia, and detained there without any legal basis. We know that she did not receive medical care and weighed about 30 kg. But we still do not know how she died.
Russians refused to return her body for a long time. When they returned the body, it had a visible trace of torture and was missing several internal organs – eyeballs, brain, and part of the trachea.
Russians are even now hardly trying to hide what they did to her. That's why the investigation conducted by 50 journalists from 6 different countries around the world is so important.
Victoria believed in truth and justice so strongly that she knowingly risked her life to tell us what was happening in the occupied territories. We will continue her struggle.
Once again, I have to remind simple things. It is not Putin who kills, tortures and rapes civilians in Ukraine. Ordinary Russians do these atrocities.
The constant attempts to shift the responsibility for this war solely to Putin look somewhat strange. But when you work every day with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by ordinary Russians, then these attempts look simply obscene.
This will be a long thread. About how ordinary Russians justify murders and war. On why this is #NotJustPutinWar. Read what the readers of Medusa, which is banned in Russia, write about Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Reminder. If we want to solve a problem, we must have the courage to see what this problem is about. 1/18
Firstly, this legitimizes the Taliban's policy of sidelining women and sets a precedent that other regimes will undoubtedly exploit. Secondly, according to its Charter, the UN is based on human rights, so women's rights should be a priority in these negotiations.
The UN likely decided to compromise to ensure that these negotiations take place. They might be driven by the best intentions, thinking that once dialogue is established, they will be able to improve the situation for women with the Taliban in future meetings.
Two days ago, I met with the Pope and in this thread I'll tell you more about this meeting
I presented him with a copy of Stanislav Aseyev's book, 'The Torture Camp on Paradise Street.' Stanislav spent two years in the secret prison 'Isolation' in Donetsk, where people were beaten and tortured every day.
Since the beginning of the war in February 2014, we have been constantly documenting such stories. Personally, I have interviewed over a hundred people who have endured the hell of captivity during the occupation.
I would recommend Western politicians to watch Putin's address to the Federal Assembly. It becomes clear who Russia is fighting against and what the next steps will be. 1/12
Putin defines Russia as "a pillar of traditional values on which human civilization is built." 2/12
Although instead of the promised values, Russia only has a wrapper behind which a misanthropic ideology hides but Putin is convinced that he bases himself on "the majority of people in the world, in particular millions of citizens of Western countries." 3/12
I often recollect the large-scale rally that took place on February 26, 2014, at the walls of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea. It was a bright day of unity, a day of resistance to the occupation, a day when everyone went home with relief because it seemed that we had defended Crimea
On March 17, 2014, the Russian military held the so-called "referendum." After that, disappearances and arrests of people, discrimination against Crimean Tatars, and persecution of everything Ukrainian became more common.
On March 5, 2024, the Russian security forces conducted another wave of raids in occupied Crimea. The raids took place in the houses of 10 Crimean Tatars in Bakhchisarai, Dzhankoi and Dzhankoi area.