A court in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra has sentenced African student Tionge Ziba to a year's suspended sentence for twerking near the Eternal Flame, the press service of the Yugra courts reported in its Telegram channel.
Ziba was charged under Part 4 Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code (rehabilitation of Nazism through desecration of symbols of Russia's military glory and insulting the memory of defenders of the Fatherland on the Internet). In April 2022, the girl posted a video in the social network Instagram (owned by Meta - the organisation is recognised as extremist and banned in Russia), in which she dances twerk near the Eternal Flame with an insulting caption.
Twerk is a dance that makes active use of the hips and buttocks. It is usually performed in a provocative and sexy manner. The dance is supposedly derived from traditional African dances.
Ziba did not admit guilt, but apologised for the act. The court gave the student a one-year suspended sentence with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to posting materials on the Internet, with a probation period of one year. The student was also obliged to find permanent housing, she was left under a non-deportation undertaking.
According to Baza, the student came from Zambia. She explained that she did not know about the symbols of military glory and did not think that her actions could offend anyone. She captioned her Instagram post with the phrase "Shaking ass for the dead". The student studies at Yugra State University.
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