In St. Petersburg, on the evening of January 20, police came to the concert of 15-year-old rapper Baby Melo (Goga Meladze) at the Giant Hall on Kondratievsky Prospekt. The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that a total of 23 people were taken from there, including minors and Baby Melo himself.
Baby Melo performed together with another rapper Badri (Orkhan Akhmedov). One video from attendees shows police entering the stage and initially leading Badri away while the soundtrack continues to play and Baby Melo remains standing on stage. In another fan recording, Baby Melo is being taken into a police minibus on the street.
The police claim that they arrived at the Giant Hall after a complaint about the use of alcohol by visitors and swearing. Fontanka, citing a source, claims that “the order to interrupt the concert was given when they heard obscenities and something unpleasant about a special operation from the stage.” The detention of Badri, according to a video of eyewitnesses, took place in words: “You are a very complex person, I didn’t understand how to approach you //And while I’m fucking the left slut, I’ll try to solve this riddle.”
Press The service of the St. Petersburg headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that protocols were drawn up against the detained teenagers under articles on drinking alcohol in a public place (20.20, 20.21 and 20.22 of the Administrative Code) and petty hooliganism (20.1 of the Administrative Code). After that, except for one teenager, whose parents did not come for them, they were then released.
Baby Melo's songs were previously criticized by the head of the Safe Internet League, Ekaterina Mizulina. In October 2023, after she denounced a video of 15-year-old Baby Melo driving a car, a report was drawn up against the rapper’s mother for failure to fulfill parenting duties (Article 5.35 of the Administrative Code).