A famous Russian Belarusian rock band, Bi-2, whose members had been detained in Thailand facing deportation to Russia, have left the country en route to Israel, according to a post on the band's Telegram channel.
Had they been deported to Russia, they risked being prosecuted for their views critical of the war in Ukraine.
Members of Bi-2 were taken into police custody and held in what the band described as a crowded cell last week after a concert on the island of Phuket, a post on the band’s Telegram channel said.
The band was told there was a problem with the documents filed by concert organizers, for which it was fined following a court hearing, the post said. It paid the fine immediately, the band said, but Thailand’s immigration police got involved, and the band members remained in detention under threat that some of them could be deported to Russia.
The band canceled scheduled concert dates in Russia in May 2022, shortly after Russian media reported the band refused to perform at a concert in the Russian city of Omsk in front of a pro-war banner onstage.
It has been touring primarily abroad since then, and it played in Turkey days before its two concerts in Thailand last week. Tour dates on its website suggested that it intended to perform abroad at least through August.
Russian media reports earlier this month that two Russian comedians, also outspoken about the war, had their shows canceled in Thailand.
It could signal that Moscow is demonstratively tightening its grip on anti-war dissidents abroad as its war in Ukraine nears the two-year mark. The Kremlin has sought to portray any public figures who do not condone the invasion and continue to criticize Russia in exile as "scum and traitors."
Thailand has a repressive monarchy given to harsh punishments for its critics, and the Thai government has maintained friendly diplomatic relations with Russia. In October, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a conference in China, during which Putin called Thailand "Russia’s oldest partner in Southeast Asia."
The band said it suspected “outside pressure” played a significant role in its members’ detentions. “We know that the reasons for this pressure are our work, our views, our position,” it said in Sunday's statement.
Detained members of Bi-2 include citizens of Russia, Israel and Australia, the band said.
In an update Tuesday, the band's representatives said an initial decision to deport the band members to Israel was canceled “after a visit by high-ranking diplomats from the Russian consulate,” leaving the band members in diplomatic limbo.
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia’s ambassador to Thailand, Yevgeny Tomikhin, told pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on Tuesday that Moscow did not request the group’s detention.
Later Tuesday, the band said that its frontman, Yegor Bortnik, also known by stage name Lyova, was allowed to leave for Israel but that remaining members of the band were “denied a previously agreed flight to Israel” and are still in the migration prison “in a cramped cell for 80 people.”
The band previously said Bortnik was not a Russian citizen.
On Wednesday, the band said on its Telegram channel, “All musicians of the Bi-2 group have safely left Thailand and are heading to Tel Aviv. Details tomorrow.”
The band did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bi-2 is one of a small cohort of Russian musicians who have been openly critical of the war in Ukraine.
It released an anti-war song in June 2022, and Bortnik was designated a foreign agent by Russia last May, a label Moscow has bestowed on dozens of Russian public figures who have been outspoken about the war.
The band has been touring the world in a form of self-exile, performing for Russian expats abroad, including the sizable Russian community of expats and tourists in Phuket.
As outspoken critics of the war and the Kremlin, had any band members been deported to Russia, they could have faced arrest under the country’s draconian wartime legislation that penalizes any criticism of the war in Ukraine.
Already, Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian lawmaker whom the United Kingdom suspects of being involved in the killing of ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, has threatened band members with jail time if they are returned to Russia.
The band said representatives of Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in Thailand were also involved in trying to help with its ordeal. “At the moment I can only say that we are assisting all the Israeli citizens who are in detention in Thailand,” Lior Haiat, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told NBC News late Tuesday. Haiat also confirmed Wednesday that Bortnik had landed in Israel.
The band said Sunday the Australian consul who came to see it in detention was not allowed to see the members. The Australian Foreign Affairs Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case.
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said Wednesday the country’s national security council was probing the band’s case. Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry did not provide any additional comment.
Earlier Wednesday, Col. Tippawan Yoma of Thailand’s immigration police confirmed to NBC News that the band members remained detained in Bangkok and said one member was deported — but not to Russia. Yoma would not provide more detail, calling it a “sensitive matter.”
Human Rights Watch had called for Thailand not to deport the band members to Russia, saying it "has an international legal obligation not to forcibly return anyone who would face the threat of torture if returned."
"It is not known if the Russian authorities have sought the band members’ forcible return to Russia," Human Rights Watch said in a statement. "However, amid repression in Russia reaching new heights, Russian authorities have used transnational repression—abuses committed against nationals beyond a government’s jurisdiction—to target activists and government critics abroad with violence and other unlawful actions."
