PUSSY RIOT: The Verdict Is In… The U.S… And What’s Next

To no real surprise by anyone following the case of the Feminist Punk Band, Pussy Riot, and the three members that are on trial (Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30) were found guilty on the charge for “Hooliganism”. (The Moscow city court system had only a 0.7 percent acquittal rate in criminal trials in 2011, handing down not-guilty verdicts in just 239 of the 35,626 cases tried in court that year, and with a case this high profile you can see why everyone thought the fix was surely in) and has been sentenced to two (2) years behind bars. Judge, Marina Syrova, stating that the women “committed hooliganism driven by religious hatred and offending religious believers.” when they stormed Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox Church back in February to protest the re-election of Russian President, Vladimir Putin and his close ties with Church leaders whom have called his place in power “miracle of god”.

What the basis for this charge?

1) It is forbidden for video and photo cameras to be switched on inside the Cathedral which the band clearly violated when they filmed the impromptu concert. (GASP!)

2) The women were wearing short dresses. "When they bowed (before the altar), their dresses rode up." That, and the band members' clothes did not obey the Russian Orthodox church code (headscarf’s, long skirts). (Doubly GASP!! The band was wearing their trade mark look of gaudy brightly colored -ripped to fit- dresses that looked like they had been on the clothes rack since the 1980‘s, knee high boots and balaclavas to cover their faces) & engaged in homosexual propaganda. (Ah, that I have no idea were it came from) All of it occurring at the "address of God."

Yeah, that pretty much sums up the main points of the charge.

The Judge went on to give detailed descriptions of what several of church goers felt about the protest act the band made. Unfortunately, some of the “offended Church” goers weren’t even there at the time of the protest and some didn’t even know about what had happened until they saw it on the evening news.

The Judge also went as far to say that the band members of “Pussy Riot” "imitated demonic attacks." Really? Is this a fucking court case in the 21 century or we back in the days of Inquisition when the church was on the look out for witches and heretics and anyone else that did not think the way they were told to think.

While the Judge Marina Syrova is on the side of the Russian Orthodox Church (we have to remember here that the head of the Church, Patriarch Kirill, sports a $40,000 watch and is reported to live a “lavish lifestyle”) not everyone in the former Communist nation thinks the same. Polls show that the country is split almost down the middle with what is happening and many fear that this a return to the former glory days when leaders shut down any thought of government protest and stifled free speech.

“This extraordinary case is now unquestionably the biggest test of freedom of expression Putin has yet faced.” (Jonathan Rugman, Britain’s Channel 4) The trial of the members of “Pussy Riot” caps off a very tumultuous first 100 days in office for Putin. The Kremlin has been under increasing fire since Putin’s re-election, the once swaggering bravado we saw in his first two terms (& as Prime Minister) has absent this time around; the man who loved to tout himself on Russian television like he the white -better looking- and more important version of Jesse Jackson appeared mostly defensive and downbeat and hasn't even made one of his trademark TV appearances. Instead Putin has been more focused on his opponents, either real or (some even think) imagined, trying to keep them at bay, however, Putin does occasionally make (awkward) attempts to engage them as he did recently while in London for the Olympics when he called for leniency and that court “will come to the right decision”. All of this is in stark contrast to what he has been doing during his first 100 days. One of his [Putin] first acts as President was to appoint Igor Kholmanskikh, a hard-faced tank factory worker, as a as presidential envoy to the Ural Mountains region (who has zero qualifications when it comes to this kind of job). His main selling point is that he [Kholmanskikh] stated on national television that he and his co-workers were ready to go to Moscow “to fight protesters who had started rising up en masse.” Many believe and author Boris Akunin wrote in his blog that Putin thinks that the protesters as a pampered and deluded elite bunch and the move suggests that he [Putin] is trying to exploit class resentments. Rejecting pretensions that he is the leader and president of all of the Russian people, that he [Putin] has started to work exclusively with the “simple people.”

Another thing Putin has done to paint the view that he is trying to return Russia to the former days when the government ruled with an iron fist is that he [Putin] has signed into law a new fine for unauthorized protests that raises it 150 times to 300,000 rubles (about $9,000). However, at the current time the authorities have grant most petitions to protest but many fear that can be reeled in at anytime.

Not long after that, Putin signed into law requiring non-governmental organizations engaging in (what they call as) ill-defined "political activity" and who receive money from abroad to register as foreign agents. The new law reinforces claims by Putin that United States and that of other Western countries are funding efforts against him -again tones in speech that hark back to the days of communism.

Puitn also signed a law that calls for to ban websites that carry content deemed harmful to children. Which can mean anything. Although, said list itself will be kept secret. That part of the law alarms critics saying that it can be used to shut down what they deem as troublesome pro-opposition sites.

　
The United States government finally came out condemning the proceedings. It was rather odd the U.S. had waited so long in my opinion considering that we are suppose to be the champions of FREE SPEECH. I mean Obama himself doesn’t have to take to the airwaves himself but, fuck, he has staff right? This would be more of a thing that maybe Hillary might want to comment on, right? But since the beginning the government has kept rather quite about it all, along with most of the mainstream NETWORK media. Not to say that is has been all quite of the western front of the “Pussy Riot” trial. Stars like Madonna and Paul McCartney, and Bjork have been more than vocal along with the art and music communities around the world, calling for today to be called “Pussy Riot Action Day”, and calling for their release.

In Ukraine, four feminist activists, one of them topless, used a chainsaw to hack down a wooden cross in Kiev's central square in a show of support.

In Sofia, Bulgaria, supporters of Pussy Riot dressed statues on a Soviet-era monument in colorful balaclavas similar to those worn by demonstrators in Moscow.

In Paris, a protest is planned to coincide with the verdict on Igor Stravinsky Square, near the Centre Pompidou modern art museum. In Washington and capitals around Europe, protests are planned outside Russian embassies.

While journalists in Moscow have spotted downtown statues wearing brightly colored balaclavas, a Pussy Riot trademark.

Prominent Putin critic and opposition leader Alexei Navalny caused a stir when her arrived at the courthouse to show support. And Leftist politician Sergei Udaltsov, another key opposition figure who also came to show support for Pussy Riot, along with two demonstrators -one hooded, the other holding a placard calling for the women's release -where arrested near the court, as dozens of police had been deployed around the court building and metal barricades placed on both sides of the street, preventing any large-scale gathering.

John Dalhuisen, director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Program, urged Russian authorities to overturn the sentence and release the trio unconditionally. Stating that the verdict was "a bitter blow for freedom of expression in the country." Amnesty as saying that the women's conduct "was politically motivated, and that they were wrongfully prosecuted for what was a legitimate -if potentially offensive- protest action. The organization considers all three activists to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs."