In the finals of the new music competition, the flag of Ukraine was not allowed to be waved.
Paula Vesala (left) and Miisa Rotola-Pukkila hosted the UMK final on Saturday. The Ukrainian flag was not allowed to be waved in the auditorium. IL / Adobe IStock
Over the weekend, several demonstrations were loudly opposed to Russian hostilities in Ukraine. In the final of the New Music Competition held at Logomo in Turku, the flag of Ukraine was not allowed.
A resident of Turku had arrived at the auditorium on the spot Anna (name changed) with a friend. They had small Ukrainian flags in the auditorium as a sign of solidarity.
– We had Ukrainian flags printed on paper that were 5 centimeters by 10 centimeters in size. They were more of a chest decoration. I had put my own outfit for decoration, Anna tells Iltalehti.
Ukrainian flags were also spotted by Logomo’s steward.
– The big policeman came pretty close to me really aggressively: “They have to leave. This is not a political event, so that flag needs to be removed. ”
– I asked if there is no sympathy here when there is a shocking situation going on. So the steward said no, either I’ll remove it or he’ll throw it in the trash.
Anna went with her friend to take the tickets, accompanied by a cloakroom policeman.
– The steward only left after I had put the flag in my jacket pocket.
According to Anna, he had seen in the auditorium a rainbow flag symbolizing pluralism had been taken from a spectator.
Russia’s hostilities against Ukraine have also mobilized protesters in Finland. Picture of Wednesday’s demonstration in Helsinki. Elle Laitila
Yle regrets
Iltalehti contacted UMK’s producer Anssi Aution. He agreed to comment on what happened via email.
– Both UMK and Logomo regret what happened. There has been a data outage here. We encouraged you to bring props to the hall and rainbow tickets are definitely welcome to the UMK audience.
Iltalehti asked who the order to remove the Ukrainian flags had come from.
– Yle has instructed you to remove signs, flags and other possible obstacles on the camera lines. No particular flags or signs, let alone pins, have been specifically identified. We have gone through the situation together and we are all really sorry, Autio reports.
He signals that production is still investigating the matter so that it does not happen again in the future.