A court in Crimea has prosecuted wedding guests for playing a Ukrainian-language song, “Chervona Kalina,” RBC reports. The owner of the banquet hall at the Arpat dinery, where the wedding took place, got 15 days of arrest, a DJ and a dancer 10 days each, the mother of the groom - 5 days, the mother of the bride - a fine of 40,000 rubles ($ 670), the wife of the restaurant owner – 50,000 rubles ($ 840). The dinery was closed for the duration of the inspection.
The owner of the establishment and the deejay were also compelled to apologize on camera, by reading out a prepared text.
“On September 10, 2022, during a wedding party at the Arpat banquet hall, located in the city of Bakhchysarai, there was a public demonstration of a Ukrainian song, which, according to the experts’ conclusion, is an attribute (combat song) used by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), whose activities are recognized as extremist and prohibited in the Russian Federation. In addition, at the same event there were public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, namely the playing of a musical composition in the Ukrainian language “Chervona Kalina”, whose text contains the words: “Liberate Ukrainian brothers from Moscow shackles”, which song is used by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation, and thus containing information related to discrediting the Russian Armed Forces,” says the statement by the court.
Earlier, the “head” of the annexed Crimea Sergey Aksenov promised to confiscate businesses from, and initiate criminal cases against, those who sing Ukrainian songs in Crimea.