The Russian band was detained in Thailand and was initially expected to be deported. Now the musicians are apparently on their way to Tel Aviv.
The dissident Russian rock band Bi-2, which was detained in Thailand, has left for Israel. The band announced on Facebook that all band members had safely left Thailand for Tel Aviv. According to the Israeli news site Ynet, they arrived early in the morning.
The seven musicians from Bi-2, several of whom also have Israeli passports and two of whom are no longer Russian citizens, said they were arrested last week after a concert on the Thai holiday island of Phuket and taken into immigration detention. The media initially reported that the musicians were to be deported to Russia.
Human rights activists warned that the exiled group would face persecution if deported to Moscow because of their public criticism of the Russian government. On Tuesday evening, one of the band’s founders – Yegor “Ljowa” Bortnik – had already flown to Israel, as the band announced, while the rest of the group initially remained in a migration prison.
Moscow demanded the extradition, but Israel’s diplomatic efforts resulted in the musicians being allowed to travel to Israel, Ynet reported. The band is accused of not having the valid documents for the performance in Phuket. “The reason for the arrest was incorrectly formulated documents from the organizers,” Bi-2 said on several social networks.
Source: Stern
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