According to the independent news site Mediazona, Ukrainian singer Jamaladinova, known by her stage name Jamala, has been charged under a recently adopted law that prohibits the dissemination of false information about the Russian military and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Jamaladinova, who is of Crimean Tatar descent, won the 2016 Eurovision contest with her song "1944," which references the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union in that year. Her victory came two years after Russia's annexation of Crimea, a move that is widely considered illegitimate by most countries.
Russia Protests Song "1944" in Eurovision
Russia has raised objections to the inclusion of the song "1944" in the Eurovision competition, claiming that it violates rules against political speech. However, the song does not explicitly criticize Russia or the Soviet Union, although it implies such criticism. The lyrics begin with the lines "When strangers are coming, they come to your house, they kill you all and say 'We're not guilty.'"
Jamaladinova, the singer of "1944," recently spoke to the BBC about her new folk album, Qirim, in which she aims to give a strong voice to her homeland, Crimea. She expressed the importance of revealing the truth and countering the propaganda spread by the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and now Russia. She believes it is crucial to share the truth through the stories behind each song on her album.
In a separate incident, a Russian artist and musician named Sasha Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in prison for swapping supermarket price tags with antiwar messages. Skochilenko was arrested in her hometown of St. Petersburg and charged with spreading false information about the military by replacing price tags with messages condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
