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Russian police issued an arrest warrant for popular exiled rapper Morgenshtern for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law, the state-run news agency TASS reported Monday, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Alisher Valeyev, 26, who goes by the stage name Morgenshtern, was designated a “foreign agent” in May 2022, three months after Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Morgenshtern, who has drawn the ire of conservative groups for explicit lyrics and a provocative personal style, had already left Russia in November 2021 after federal investigative authorities accused him of drug trafficking.
Morgenshtern’s lawyer Sergei Zhorin told TASS he could neither confirm nor deny whether an arrest warrant was issued for his client.
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Russian authorities previously charged Morgenshtern with failure to comply with the foreign agent law, which is punished by up to two years in prison if convicted.
Individuals designated as “foreign agents” must include a lengthy disclaimer on all their public statements, including social media posts.
The state-run news agency RIA Novosti, citing investigators, reported that Morgenshtern is suspected of posting online without a disclaimer “no later than March 21, 2024.”
Earlier this month, authorities seized Morgenshtern’s properties outside Moscow as part of the ongoing criminal case against him.
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