Moscow - The Russian Investigative Committee is ready to probe the defiling of the Russian flag by Bloodhound Gang in the case it receives such directives from prosecutors.
“If prosecutors instruct the Russian Investigative Committee to start an inquiry into this cynical crime we will do our best to identity and bring to court every involved person, from perpetrators to masterminds,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said on Saturday.
“Apparently, a crime defined by Article 329 of the Russian Criminal Code, the defiling of the Russian state flag, has been committed and this is a premeditated offense,” Markin said.
“However, such criminal cases can be opened and investigated by investigative bodies of the Interior Ministry,” the spokesman said.
He said he was hopeful of “assistance from Ukrainian colleagues” if the case was referred to the Investigative Committee.
Some media reported earlier that a Bloodhound Gang bassist performed a stunt at a concert in Odesa that was perceived as the defiling of a Russian flag.
Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said on Twitter late on Friday that the Bloodhound Gang’s planned performance at a festival in the Krasnodar territory had been canceled following the incident.
“Talked to Krasnodar territory leadership. Bloodhound Gang packing suitcases. These idiots won’t perform in Kuban [Krasnodar territory],” Medinsky said.
Bloodhound Gang bassist ‘Evil’ Jared Hasselhoff later apologized for the incident. Speaking at a press conference, Hasselhoff said it was a pure coincidence that a Russian flag appeared onstage. At the end of the show, the bassist wished to give it to the audience but did it in a weird way. A video available on YouTube shows Hasselhoff tucking the Russian white-blue-red tricolor into the front of his pants and then pulling it out of the back before throwing it to the crowd. He explained the stunt by a tradition existing in the band, according to which anything going from the stage at their concerns is supposed to pass through the bassist’s pants.
Krasnodar region Governor Alexander Tkachyov has suggested that any performances of the U.S. rock band Bloodhound Gang in Russia should be canceled following a recent incident in Odesa involving what he sees as the defiling of a Russian flag.
“I hope anyone related to the organization of concerts of these Americans in our country will declare a lifelong boycott to them. Such things can’t be forgiven,” Tkachyov said on Twitter on Saturday.
“Everyone has taken this disgusting act as a personal insult,” Tkachyov said. “It is good that even those who have arrived at Kubana [a rock festival in the Krasnodar region] only to hear this group have booed the bastards. Our patriotism is higher than our musical preferences,” he said.
