Anti-war rock band at risk of being deported to Russia

Russian rock band Bi-2 were arrested last week after concert in Phuket and remain in Thai custody

Five of the seven members of Bi-2 travelled using Russian passports (AP)

A popular anti-war rock band visiting Thailand could be deported back to Russia, where they face years of imprisonment for their opposition to the war in Ukraine, according to human rights advocates.

The seven members of progressive rock band Bi-2 were arrested last week after a concert at a popular beach resort in Phuket, for allegedly failing to obtain the proper working papers.

Five of the seven members travelled using Russian passports, and at least four of the members are reportedly Israeli nationals, according to the Associated Press.

The Kremlin has a reputation for cracking down on members of the cultural community critical of the war, even those who are not in the country.

Russia has previously singled out the two founders of Bi-2, Aleksandr “Shura” Uman and and Yegor “Lyova” Bortnik, for not supporting the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine.

On their official Facebook page, the band said all their “concerts are held in accordance with local laws and practices.”

After paying fines of 3,000 baht (about £67) each, the band members were sent to the Immigration Detention Center in the capital, Bangkok, according to Human Rights Watch.

Thai Immigration Police (REUTERS)

Self-exiled Russian opposition politician and a friend of Bi-2, Dmitry Gudkov, told the Russian-language service of Australia’s SBS radio that he believed Moscow was exerting pressure on Thailand to have the band members deported to Russia.

Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch echoed Mr Gudkov’s concerns and confirmed that all seven arrested musicians were still being held Monday at the Bangkok jail.

“Members of the dissident Bi-2 rock band are likely to face harsh prosecution and other grave dangers in the hands of Russian authorities,” Sunai told The Associated Press. 

“Under no circumstances should Bangkok hand them over to Moscow, which will blatantly breach both international and Thai laws,” he added.

Marjana Semkina of the band Iamthemorning wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that her fellow band member Gleb Kolyadin was one of the seven arrested. Semkina, a Russian-born singer-songwriter who lives in Britain, said Kolyadin, a temporary British resident, had been sitting in as a keyboard player with Bi-2.

She described Bi-2 in her post as having been “inconvenient for (the) Russian government for a while ‘cause they are a very big band and they are very obviously anti-war and anti-Putin so they moved out of the country a while ago, just like Gleb did.”

Thailand’s immigration police have been approached for comment.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.