Safe haven in Israel: Anti-Kremlin band escapes from Russia Residents reach agreement with government: Strike on Machu Picchu ends

They criticize Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and have narrowly escaped Moscow’s repressive apparatus: the Russian-Belarusian rock band Bi-2.

The seven members were able to leave Thailand – where they were being held – on Thursday and go to Tel Aviv.

But from the beginning:

Bi-2

Bi-2 is a rock band formed in 1985 in what was then Soviet Belarus. In 1999 the members moved to Russia. In the 2000s the band was one of the most successful there.

Bi-2 May 2022 tour dates in Russia canceled shortly after Russian media reported that the band had refused to play in front of a pro-war poster in the city of Omsk.

Since then, Bi-2 has mainly performed outside Russia. For example, they performed in Turkey just a few days before their two concerts in Thailand last week. According to tour dates, concerts outside Russia were already planned until August.

Arrest and extradition detention

The seven musicians of Bi-2, Some of them also have Israeli passports and two of them are no longer Russian citizensThey say they were arrested last week after a concert on the Thai holiday island of Phuket and placed in immigration detention. According to Bi-2 they would have been there “in a cramped cell with 80 people” to endure. The media initially reported that the musicians would be deported to Russia.

On Tuesday evening, one of the band’s founders – Yegor “Ljowa” Bortnik – was able to leave for Israel, as the band announced, while the rest of the group initially stayed in a migration prison. Moscow demanded extradition, but that happened Israel’s diplomatic efforts resulted in the musicians being allowed to travel to Israelreports Ynet.

On Platform X, Sviatlana Zichanouskaya expressed her relief that the band members were able to travel to Israel. The Belarusian opposition politician lives in exile in Vilnius, Lithuania and is seen by the opposition as the legitimate president of Belarus.

The reason for the arrest

The band is accused by Thai authorities of not having the valid documents to perform in Phuket.

Thailand maintains relations with Russia

Thailand and Russia have good relations. Thailand abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia’s ‘annexation’ of four Ukrainian regions. This is precisely why, before the band members left for Israel, there was concern that Thailand would extradite the musicians to Russia.

Moscow is an important trading partner for Thailand. As recently as October, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin praised the long-standing close relationship between the countries during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing. Thailand is also popular as a holiday destination among Russians. Since the outbreak of war, many Russian citizens have moved to the Southeast Asian country to avoid being drafted.

A million Russians traveled to Thailand in 2023 and Thai authorities expect the number of entries for the new year to be twice as high.

NGOs warned of extradition

Human rights activists warned that the exiled group would face prosecution if deported to Moscow because of their public criticism of the Russian government.

“Thai authorities should immediately release the detained members of Bi-2 and allow them to continue their journey,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), according to news agency SDA.

Human Rights Watch further stated that the Russian government considers the band a threat to national security:

The NGO had warned of deportation to Russia. If they were forcibly repatriated, the band members would “most likely face arbitrary arrests and detentions, possible mistreatment in custody, politically motivated criminal charges, and unfair trials.”

The human rights organization Amnesty International had also called on the Thai authorities to meet their “international obligations” and not extradite the band to Russia.

With material from the SDA and DPA news agencies