Lead singer Bono of Irish rock band U2 performs under heavy rain during their 360 Degree Tour at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, August 25, 2010. (photo credit)
Amnesty Says Activists Detained at Moscow U2 Concert
Rights group Amnesty said five of its activists were detained while distributing flyers at a U2 concert in Moscow on Wednesday, which ended with a celebrated Kremlin critic joining the Irish rock stars on stage.
Police detained the five volunteers who were distributing leaflets and displaying banners for holding an unsanctioned protest at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, the head of Amnesty International in Russia Sergei Nikitin told the Interfax news agency.
“I am very sorry about what happened … it overshadowed the concert,” Nikitin said. He said the activists were later released without charge. Interfax quoted an unnamed police official as saying two activists were detained.
At the end of their concert, U2 invited Russian rock star turned Kremlin critic Yury Shevchuk to join them on stage for a rendition of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.”
Shevchuk has become a significant figure in Russia’s opposition movement since he delivered a rare public rebuke to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in May.
Shevchuk’s appearance with a guitar at an opposition protest at the weekend attracted 2,000 people, making it one of Moscow’s biggest protests in years.
U2 frontman Bono met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday to try to convince him to support his efforts to combat AIDS. He did not make any public criticism of the Russian leadership during his trip.
A spokeswoman for U2 said the band did not yet have the details of the detentions and could not immediately comment. An Amnesty spokesman said he could not immediately comment.
U2 with Yuri Shevchuk on stage to perform Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (U2gigs.com video from Moscow on August 25):
Setlist from Moscow show is here.
Also love the New Year’s Day video (POURING rain) and the Crazy Tonight remix video (how smiley can Larry Mullen actually be?) More videos are here.
Related:
Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk (Russian: Ю́рий Юлиа́нович Шевчу́к), born 16 May 1957, is a Soviet and Russian singer/songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, which he founded with Vladimir Sigachev in 1980. Shevchuk was born in Yagodnoye in Magadan Oblast and raised in Ufa, Russia, though he now resides in St. Petersburg, Russia. Shevchuk was an art teacher before founding DDT. He is best known for his distinctive, somewhat grave voice. His lyrics detail aspects of Russian life with a wry, humanistic sense of humor. He is also very famous for openly opposing pop music. He is often accredited with being the greatest song-writer in present-day Russia.
Shevchuk is highly critical of the undemocratic society that has developed in Putin‘s Russia.
