photo copyrightTASS/IMAGO
January 31, 2024
Six more members of the Bi-2 group, detained in Thailand, were able to fly to Israel after a week in custody, the group’s lawyer said. Earlier, the leader of the group, Yegor Bortnik, better known as Leva Bi-2 (in Russia declared a “foreign agent”), left Thailand. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the release was a result of its efforts.
The official Bi-2 channel reported that all the musicians had safely left Thailand and were heading to Tel Aviv. The channel promises to provide details of the release of the group members on Thursday.
The musicians were able to fly from Thailand after a meeting between the consuls of Israel and Australia – some of the musicians have citizenship of these countries – with the Thai Foreign Ministry, the band’s lawyer told reporters.
The Israeli consul agreed with the Thai migration authorities on the deportation to Israel of the co-founder of the group Shura (Alexander Uman), two guitarists, a drummer, a keyboard player and an arranger of the rock band.
“There was also supposed to be a meeting with the Russian consul. It is unclear whether they dated together or separately. Rather separately. The meeting lasted several hours. Representatives of the group did not participate in it,” the lawyer said.
“Tickets were purchased, El Al airline helped a lot. Then the musicians were taken to the migration office at the airport, registered, [им] passports were handed over and boarded,” he added.
The day before it became known that Bortnik (Leva “Bi-2”) flew to Israel after almost a week of arrest in Thailand. The six remaining members of the Bi-2 group, three of whom only have Russian citizenship, remained in Bangkok at an immigration detention center.
The musicians were detained on January 24 after a concert in Phuket. The reason for the arrest, as reported on the group’s VKontakte page, was “documents incorrectly completed by the organizers.”
Bi-2 representatives reported pressure from Russian authorities, who, they said, sought to deport the musicians to Russia, where they could face persecution for their anti-war stance.
The consular department of the Russian embassy claimed the day before that three members of the group could only be deported from Thailand to Russia – since they have no other citizenship.
“If a citizen refuses to return, then he can sit there for five or 10 years, until he gives his consent,” the embassy told TASS. — Whoever has only a Russian passport, then in this case there is the possibility of deportation only to Russia. There is no other option.”
In turn, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has now stated that the musicians were released as a result of its efforts. “I am pleased that, thanks to smart and persistent diplomatic work, we were able to release Israeli citizens detained in Thailand along with their foreign counterparts,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.
The Bi-2 group reported that the decision to deport to Israel was made on Monday, but was canceled on Tuesday after a visit by diplomats from the Russian consulate. The musicians refused to meet with the Russian consul.
The scandal surrounding the group attracted the attention of politicians and human rights activists outside Russia. The international organization Human Rights Watch, in particular, called on the Thai authorities not to deport the musicians to a country where “they could, at best, face arrest for open criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s war in Ukraine.”