After prison, to the front?
Russian rapper has to fear being called up after a naked party
January 9, 2024, 3:18 p.m
At the end of December, Russian celebrities have fun at a frivolous party in a Moscow nightclub. Among them was the rapper Vacio, who appeared wearing only a sock. The fun could now have serious consequences for him.
Of all the guests who came to a Moscow nightclub on December 20th at the invitation of blogger Nastya Ivleyeva under the motto “Almost Naked”, he was probably the least dressed: the Russian rapper Vacio. Only a sock covered his genitals; he left the rest of his clothes off. The liberal motto angered the Kremlin and several revelers had to be imprisoned for a few days.
This included Vacio, who was summoned to court two days after the party and sentenced to 15 days in prison on charges of “homosexual propaganda.” His case fell under a law banning “LGBTQ propaganda,” which was further tightened by the Supreme Court at the end of November. His objection that he had nothing to do with the LGBTQ movement was not heard.
Human rights activists stood by a report by the Russian daily newspaper “Moskovsky-Komsomolets” in contact with the rapper during his imprisonment. To them, Vacio disputes the court’s account: “What actually happened was this: I was walking through the club with a friend, several people came up to me. It wasn’t immediately clear to me that two of them were young men , who were dressed as women. And one of them boldly ripped off my sock.” He then insulted the two men. “And this video was then posted online,” said Vacio. He loves women and “rejects LGBT people and I don’t understand why that’s attributed to me.”
Summons for convocation
But the prison sentence is only one problem. Vacio, whose real name is Nikolai Vasiliev, may have received a bigger shock when he was supposed to be released on January 5th after his 15 days in prison. Instead of being able to go home, he said he was taken directly to the military enlistment office. There he received a summons for January 9th.
But that hasn’t happened yet: When he was subsequently taken back to the police and questioned again about the party, he said how he had cursed the people who had pulled off his sock. For these curse words he was brought back to court the next day and sentenced to another ten days in prison, writes Moskovsky-Komsomolets. Due to the additional prison sentence, he was unable to appear for the summons. Whether he could be drafted to the front is questionable anyway. He failed a previous medical examination for military service in his native Yekaterinburg.
The summons doesn’t come as a complete surprise: Shortly after the images and videos of the frivolous party flooded the internet, there was widespread protest in ultra-conservative circles. Videos of masked front-line fighters also emerged who condemned the wartime celebration as offensive and called for an investigation. Well-known propagandist Vladimir Solovyov called the party participants “beasts” and “scum.” They have “no idea how much the people hate you.”
The Kremlin did not comment on the footage from the party. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, said on state radio station Sputnik that life teaches “painful lessons.” Those attending the celebration must “understand the gravity of the problem and improve.”