HELSINKI (CelebrityAccess) — Inga Mauer, a Russian DJ/Producer was allegedly "beaten up" and arrested by festival security after performing at the EDM-oriented Flow Festival in Helsinki on Saturday night.
According to music news site Resident Advisor, Mauer was accosted by festival security several hours after performing on the festival's Resident Advisor Front Yard stage on August 12th. In a description of the attack posted on her Facebook page and reported by Resident Advisor, Mauer said that she and a friend were sitting down to eat when they were approached by several members of the festival's security team.
"Two people grabbed my hands and started dragging me on the ground, as if I were a sack of potatoes," Mauer wrote. "Next moment, there are five men around me, dragging me somewhere. They took me behind some fences and locked me away from my friends. I was alone. I looked like a real criminal, like I did something horribly bad. I was screaming for help and trying to get away."
Marie Davidson, a Canadian artist and friend of Mauer who also performed at the festival, described the alleged attack in a post on her Facebook page, writing:
"I witnessed a bunch of security guys hold a girl on the ground while she was screaming. As I approached to try to help, I found out that this girl was actually my friend Inga Mauer, an artist who had played a killer set only two hours before. She said they violently dragged her out of the festival area because she refused to leave right away. I tried to interfere and explain that I knew her and that I wanted to help her calm down because she was extremely confused and scared. As a result, we got both put aside, in a corner, isolated from the rest of the crowd. I tried to reach out to my friend but they wouldn't let me touch her."
"I told those men that we were both artists and that we were actually sober (we were not on drugs, only shared [one] bottle of wine together throughout the night). I kindly asked them if I could take her back to the hotel and leave the place. I got no answer. The cops came and took my friend away to send her to jail. I begged them to let me go with her because she was crying and very scared, she was bleeding from her knee and was in shock. I just said, 'Please, let me stay with her.' Two security guys took me by the arms and threw me out in the street out of the festival zone. I told them I needed to at least be in touch with someone because I had no internet, no driver and no taxis were taking people to any place at this hour. They laughed and said 'go figure it out' and then closed the fence, leaving me in a totally unknown place without any way of reaching out for help. I had to ask strangers in the street to help me find a taxi to my hotel. About an hour after, I was back to my room, learning that my friend would spend the night in jail, to be released in the morning."
In a subsequent statement, organizers for the festival said they were "at a loss for words about the attack" and that they were in serious talks with their lawyers over the incident.
"We, the three partners of Flow Festival, Suvi Kallio, Tuomas Kallio and Toni Rantanen, are still at a loss for words and very sad about the episode that happened at the Flow Festival area early Sunday morning. Inga Mauer and Marie Davidson are artists and lovely friends who Toni Rantanen booked to perform at the festival. It came to our knowledge that members of the security staff had used violence against Inga Mauer. Marie Davidson, who approached to try to help her, was inappropriately thrown out of the festival area. Even the police who came to sort out the situation acted threateningly and refused to give us any information after taking Inga Mauer to jail overnight. Flow Festival does not approve the use of violence and we were shocked and very sad to hear this. We are truly sorry for what Inga Mauer and Marie Davidson had to go through."
"Luckily we have video, photos and eyewitnesses. As festival organisers, we take responsibility of this incident and will make sure everything will be investigated and taken care of properly. Serious discussions are underway with our lawyers and the subcontractor Local Crew Oy that was responsible for Flow Festival's 2017 security. Compensation for the victims must follow and something similar can never ever happen again. The security company has been a trusted subcontractor for many years but now they have failed to do their job in the right manner."
