In Russia, a criminal investigation was ordered in response to a performance that took place on Saturday at the Tbilisi Open Air music festival, during which singer Erekle Getsadze allegedly urinated on a Russian flag.
Videos from Getsadze’s performance on Saturday show the artist dropping the flag on the stage, picking it up, placing it in a nearby bag, and then turning his back to the audience, apparently urinating on it.
The performance was covered by numerous Russian media outlets, with the Russian state-run outlet RIA Novosti describing it as an ‘insult to the flag’.
On Sunday, the performance also drew a response from Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who expressed hope that Russia’s law enforcement agencies ‘will give this disgraceful act the appropriate assessment’.
Zakharova stated that ‘a flag will remain a flag, no matter what a lunatic does with it’.
‘When God didn’t give a man brains, he has to work with other organs’, she added, while criticising the singer on Telegram.
Subsequently, Russia’s Investigative Committee wrote on Telegram that its head Alexander Bastrykin had ordered ‘an investigation into the desecration of the state flag of the Russian Federation’ and the initiation of a criminal case ‘in order to hold those responsible legally accountable’.
According to Russia’s criminal code, ‘desecration of the state flag of the Russian Federation’ is punishable by various penalties, including up to one year of imprisonment or an equal term of forced labour.
Neither Tbilisi Open Air nor the Georgian government have commented on the incident or the investigation.
Georgian Dream MP Dimitri Samkharadze condemned the performance, saying on Facebook that it was ‘not typical of a Georgian man’s behaviour’ and claimed it was a ‘deliberate and pre-planned provocation, for which they were likely paid’.
‘If you truly want to defeat the enemy, Russia, fuck off to Ukraine and fight the Russians’, Samkharadze wrote.
He has often been known for his aggression and insults towards critics of the ruling party.
Tbilisi Open Air is an annual music festival held in the Georgian capital. This year’s festival featured an all-Georgian lineup, with the theme focusing on the ongoing protests and political crisis in Georgia. Several performers have expressed their opposition to the Georgian Dream government’s policies, showing support for the ongoing pro-EU protests and calling for the release of those detained during the demonstrations.
Mikheil joined OC Media after a long career as a journalist at Netgazeti, focusing on politics, human rights and the wider region. He has an academic background in Arabic Studies and maintains a strong interest in Arabic language, Egyptian cinema, and the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
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