STING DEFENDS SHOW FOR UZBEKISTAN PRESIDENT
Rocker STING has defended his decision to perform for Uzbekistan’s presid= ent, because calling off the show would have been a "pointless gesture".
The former Police star staged a private concert last year (Oct09) for P= resident Islam Karimov, who has been slammed by officials at the United N= ations who have accused him of "institutionalised, systematic, and rampan= t" torture in his regime.
The singer was criticised by Britain’s former ambassador to Uzbekistan,= Craig Murray, who branded Sting "stupid" to agree to the gig, for which = he is rumoured to have been paid $3.2 million (=C2=A32 million).
He said, "It appears Sting is a hypocrite. He’s incredibly stupid to be= unaware of what sort of regime it is. His human rights and environmental= activism seem to have flown out the window." And although the 58-year-old star has branded President Karimov "mediev= al" and "tyrannical", he has no regrets about the private show.
In a statement, Sting says, "I played in Uzbekistan a few months ago. T= he concert was organised by the president=E2=80=99s daughter and I believ= e sponsored by Unicef.
"I am well aware of the Uzbek president=E2=80=99s appalling reputation = in the field of human rights as well as the environment. I made the decis= ion to play there in spite of that.
"I have come to believe that cultural boycotts are not only pointless g= estures, they are counter-productive, where proscribed states are further= robbed of the open commerce of ideas and art and as a result become even= more closed, paranoid and insular.
"I seriously doubt whether the President of Uzbekistan cares in the sli= ghtest whether artists like myself come to play in his country, he is her= metically sealed in his own medieval, tyrannical mindset."
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
