Russia has placed a Ukrainian singer who won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on its wanted list, official news agencies reported on Monday. Reports indicate that an Interior Ministry database lists singer Susana Jamaladinova as wanted for violating a criminal law, the AP reports. The independent news site Mediazona, which covers opposition and human rights issues, said Jamaladinova was charged under a law passed last year banning the spread of false information about Russian army and the ongoing fighting in Ukraine.
Jamaladinova, who performs under the stage name Jamala, is of Crimean Tatar descent. She won the 2016 Eurovision contest with the song “1944,” a title that refers to the year the Soviet Union mass deported Crimean Tatars. His winning performance came almost exactly two years after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, when Ukraine was in the throes of political unrest. Most other countries view the annexation as illegitimate. Russia protested against allowing “1944” into the competition, saying it violated rules banning political speech in Eurovision. But the song made no specific criticism of Russia or the Soviet Union, although it had such implications, beginning with the lyrics “When foreigners come, they come to your house / They kill you all and say ‘We “We are not guilty.”
(Read more stories about the Russia-Ukraine war.)
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