Battle rappers are persecuted under Art. 282 CC

Criminal cases have been initiated against Islam Zakirov and Sherafgan Sharipov under Art. 282 of the Criminal Code because of the punchlines they used during rap battles. Zakirov was arrested.

On December 16, 2023, the main investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Moscow opened cases under Part 2 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting hatred or enmity) against two rappers: 17-year-old Islam Zakirov, performing under the pseudonym Recidiv, and Sheraph'gun Sharipov. Claims from law enforcement agencies were caused by individual punchlines (strike lines) uttered by performers during rap battles - competitions of rappers, the participants of which try to humiliate each other in the most original way possible.

In his speech, Zakirov mentioned in an obscene manner that he was launching a “preventive strike” against a “pregnant Russian.” Without context, it is impossible to unambiguously interpret this punch - probably Recidiv meant that he did not want his rival to leave offspring or, in general, for people like him to be born. A video of the battle that took place at the BRP Battle site was published online on November 11, 2023; according to one fan of the genre, only 238 people watched it.

Sharipov, during a battle with rapper Tyulen at the MC Cup site, drew attention to his opponent’s long hair and said that he was ready to scalp him, although he “didn’t try to shoot his cigarette” - thus hinting at the summer xenophobic attack in the Moscow region . The recording of the fight was published on November 26.

On December 15, 2023, excerpts from the battles were published by the far-right Telegram channel “Mnogonational”, which called on readers to send complaints to the Investigative Committee, followed by the publication Readovka. The police detained Zakirov and forced him to make a public apology to Russian women and the Russian people in general. On December 19, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow took Zakirov into custody under paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code (inciting hatred or enmity with the threat of violence). Nothing was reported about Sharipov's whereabouts.

We believe that when deciding whether to prosecute rappers, the form and communicative context of their statements should be taken into account. Battle rap is a specific genre, an integral element of which is punchlines. These lines, often built on wordplay and unexpected, provocative comparisons, are intended to insult the opponent as caustically as possible. Extremely harsh statements are inherent in battle rap as a genre; they are used within the framework of the verbal duel itself, but, as a rule, are not used outside of it. We believe that even when rappers mention acts of xenophobic violence, their intent is not to incite hatred or even humiliation of an ethnic or other group, but to present to the public the most sophisticated insult possible. Such insults in battle rap are often based on a play on one or another current event or phenomenon of social life, or exploit popular stereotypes. Moreover, such insults are considered acceptable means of artistic expression within the framework of a battle not only by opponents, but also by the audience of the fights. Therefore, we are inclined to believe that in these cases, the rappers’ actions lack both the objective and the subjective side of the crime. It is characteristic that criminal cases were initiated not based on statements from participants or spectators of the battles who were familiar with their entire content, but as a result of the deliberate publication of rappers’ phrases taken out of context on resources extremely far from the genre. One of the communities of battle rap fans, on the contrary, opened a fundraiser in support of Zakirov.

Unfortunately, as we have noted many times, interpreting artistic work often proves to be an overwhelming task for law enforcement agencies. Moreover, this time their activities clearly had a terrifying effect on the entire Russian battle rap: after the arrest of Zakirov, a number of battle platforms, including the largest (Versus, Slovo, RBL, INDE-Battle, BRP, Triplet, Siberian Groove) , decided to remove absolutely all video recordings of battles from publication. Thus, as a result of government intervention, the development of an entire genre of Russian rap was stopped, some examples of which at the peak of the popularity of this trend became noticeable mainstream cultural phenomena (for example, Oxxxymiron vs. Jonnyboy, Oxxxymiron vs. Slava CPSU, Oxxxymiron vs. Dizaster).

Sources

• The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia has given instructions to present a report on the investigation of criminal cases based on statements posted on social media that incite hatred and enmity // Sledkom. Telegram. 2023. December 16.
• The district court of Moscow chose a preventive measure against rapper Islam Zakirov in a case of extremism // Moscow courts of general jurisdiction. Telegram. 2023. December 19.
• Cases were opened against two battle rappers under an article on interethnic hatred due to statements at performances // Novaya Gazeta Europe. 2023. December 16.
• Metropolitan police officers detained a native of the Krasnoyarsk Territory - a participant in a dubious rap battle that went viral in the public space // Ministry of Internal Affairs media. Telegram. 2023. December 17.
• The police forced the 17-year-old rapper to apologize on camera... // Be careful, news. Telegram. 2023. December 17.
• Versus and other battle rap platforms hid all videos from their YouTube channels after filing a case against rapper Recidiv // Be careful, news. Telegram. 2023. December 18.
• Based on materials from social networks.