In Moscow, criminal cases were opened against two participants in rap battles for “inciting hatred,” the Investigative Committee reported.
One of the detainees is 17-year-old rapper Islam Zakirov, who performs under the pseudonym Relapse. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs posted a video of his apology “to the Russian nation,” filmed by security forces in an official car.
On November 18, Zakirov performed at the Moscow battle platform BRP Battle. A few weeks later, right-wing public pages and publications, including Readovka and Mnogonational, began to publish an excerpt with his punchline: “I’m fucking a pregnant Russian — this is a preemptive strike. I really don’t give a fuck, because I’m a young Kyrgyz, I drink kumys.”
Together with Zakirov, the public distributed an excerpt from another battle rapper Sheraphgan Sharipov (Sheraph'gun) and his words regarding an opponent with long hair : “I can’t understand, what kind of hairstyle is this? It’s like you weren’t going to shoot my cigarette, but I don’t mind scalping you anymore.” Sharipov took part in a battle at another Moscow site, the MC Cup.
It was a reference to the July attack in the Moscow region of Elektrostal: two drunken men cut off the green mohawk and part of the skin on the back of the head from a 19-year-old passerby who asked them for a cigarette. Zafar Razovokov and Ilya Taingushev were arrested in connection with the case.
“Novaya Gazeta Europe” suggests that the second case of “inciting hatred” filed specifically against Sharipov (Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code).
According to the project “Caution, News”, searches took place “even of the visitors to the battle, investigators also confiscated their phones.”
Battle rap venues removed recordings of both performances. The pages of Sharipov and Zakirov on VKontakte, links to which were provided by Mnogonational and other right-wing public pages, are also now unavailable. The Telegram channel “That Punch” wrote that they received massive threats.