The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has placed the winner of Eurovision 2016, People’s Artist of Ukraine Susana Dzhamaladinova, who performs under the pseudonym Jamala, on the international wanted list. This was reported by RIA News Referring to the search database of the Russian department.
“Susana Jamaladinova, August 27, 1983. Reason for search: Wanted under criminal charges,” the card says.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not specify under which article the singer was charged.
How did Jamala gain attention?
By Telegram channel Shot, a criminal case was filed against the artist with the article titled “Deliberate public dissemination of false information regarding the use of the RF Armed Forces” based on national hatred. It is assumed that the reason was that in April last year he posted on social networks containing false information about the events in Bucha.
Mediazona publication (the organization is included in the list of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice) announced that Jamal was put on the wanted list in mid-October and arrested in absentia by a Russian court in November.
Jamala has never hidden her negative attitude towards Russian politics. She actively supports the Ukrainian government and spoke at Maidan.
At the same time, in 2017, the singer did not accept the ban on the performances of Russian artists on the territory of Ukraine: from the Russian Federation she “wants to see in her country artists who share the position of the Ukrainian people.”
“We cannot be against all Russians and look at everyone from the same perspective.<…>. We know that many artists cannot perform here due to non-compliance with the laws. Even though some people do not like my position, I think it is correct, UNIAN agency quoted him as saying.
Demonstrations in Crimea
Despite her location, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, Jamala continued to attend Russian corporate events. When this became known, a scandal broke out.
“Jamala gave two concerts in Russia in 2014, once in Moscow and once in Sochi. We had a discussion within the team about what we should do regarding already confirmed concerts: cancel, justify the changed circumstances or fulfill our obligations to the organizers,” the singer’s representative Denis Kozlovsky said in an interview with Ukrainian publication TabloID.
He explained that Jamala was ready to cancel corporate events, but her management insisted on fulfilling its obligations, since the organizers and listeners were not responsible for the events that took place.
He claims that the singer did not give either private or public concerts in Russia after December 31, 2014.
Jamala was one of the jury members during the Eurovision national selection in 2019. Anna Maria, one of the Opanasyuk sisters whose mother served as deputy chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers, harshly criticized the duo. The girls’ parents continued to live on the peninsula, as did Jamala’s parents. (his father is Crimean Tatar, his mother is Armenian. – socialbites.ca).
“On the one hand, I need to evaluate you as a professional and your performance. You sing very beautifully. On the other hand, I don’t know. You say that you went to the competition knowing all this situation. Do you know that the participants in this competition represent the whole country? What about all of us? How can you say in an interview that Crimea is “our homeland”? – said the artist then.
The Anna Maria duet eventually took last place, and Jamala admitted in her social networks that it was difficult for her to control her emotions when it came to Crimea, but this did not affect the way she gave marks.
Entry ban to Russia
In April 2022, a list with the names of Ukrainian artists and journalists who were allegedly banned from entering Russia for 50 years circulated on social networks.. It was published “News”. There are 31 people on the list, including singer Jamala. Next to him were Anastasia Kamenskikh, Svetlana Loboda, Dmitry Monatik, Andrey Danilko, Mila Savitskaya, Dmitry Komarov, Anton Ptushkin, Ivan Dorn, Nadya Dorofeeva, Evgeny Komarovsky.
There was no official comment from Russian law enforcement agencies on whether this list has legal validity.
Russian singer Nikolai Baskov supported banning some Ukrainian stars from entering Russia.
“That’s true and logical. And what do you think?” — Wrote on artist social networks.
Who is Jamala?
Susana Jamaladinova was born on August 27, 1983 in Kyrgyzstan. Parents moved to Crimea when Jamal was about six years old. She became interested in music at an early age and studied piano at a music school, then received vocational training.
Since childhood, Jamala has participated in various music competitions. She was offered an internship at the La Scala opera house in Milan, but decided to take part in New Wave and became its winner.
Jamala participated in the Eurovision national selection twice. She won for the second time and then represented Ukraine at the contest in 2016 with her original song “1944”. The composition is dedicated to the deportation of Crimean Tatars. Jamala won and was awarded the title of “People’s Artist”.
The singer got married in 2017 and gave birth to two sons. The family lived in Kiev but left the city after the start of hostilities.
Jamala appeared on stage again at Eurovision 2023 and chanted “Glory to Ukraine!” at the end of her show. she shouted.