Russia opens probe into flag desecration by US band

Russia's interior ministry on Monday launched a criminal probe into flag desecration after a US rock musician stuffed a Russian flag down his trousers at a concert. The band Bloodhound Gang scandalised Russia when a video was released showing its bassist Jared Hasselhoff stuffing the white-blue-and-red tricolour down his trousers and then throwing it into the crowd at a concert last week in Odessa, Ukraine. The interior ministry said in a statement that it had opened a criminal case "after looking into actions that demonstrated disrespect to the Russian state flag by a musician from a foreign band." According to Russian law, desecration of the national flag could lead to a jail sentence of up to one year. Russia's Investigative Committee, a powerful agency that is an equivalent of the US FBI, said in a statement earlier Monday that it was examining the incident. It condemned "the cynicism of the said crime, which expressed clear disrespect for the Russian state." "The investigation will evaluate everyone connected with this crime, from the actual perpetrators to its organisers," the Investigative Committee said, adding that it would send inquiries shortly to the United States and Ukraine. The band members were turned away from a festival where they were due to play in southern Russia on Saturday and flew out of the country after being told to pack their bags by the culture minister and having their visas cut short by the migration services. Before they abruptly left Russia, the group apologised by saying at a news conference that it was a tradition that everything thrown from the stage to fans "takes a trip through the pants." The video of the concert shows Hasselhoff telling the crowd: "Don't tell Putin," before pushing the flag into his unzipped trousers and pulling it out the back to jeers and cheers from the crowd. As they flew out, the band members were egged by pro-Kremlin youth activists and assaulted by Cossacks, an ultra-conservative group. Pro-Kremlin lawmakers called for them to be banned from Russia for life and said that the Russian organisers of their concert should face consequences. Top ruling party official Sergei Neverov compared the rock band to US pop star Madonna, who criticised a law against "homosexual propaganda" to minors at her concert in Saint Petersburg last year. He said the musicians were "links in a single chain" and acting on someone's orders. The US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul late Sunday said on his Twitter account: "I find the action by Bloodhound Gang disgusting. I also condemn the violence against them."