Pussy Riot Jailed

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**Huffy**

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19297373

Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.

Judge Marina Syrova convicted the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, saying they had "crudely undermined social order".

The women say the protest, in February, was directed at the Russian Orthodox Church leader's support for Mr Putin.

The US, UK and EU all criticised the sentences as "disproportionate".

Prosecutors had been seeking a three-year jail sentence for the women.

Judge Syrova said Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, had offended the feelings of Orthodox believers and shown a "complete lack of respect".

"Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich committed hooliganism - in other words, a grave violation of public order," she said.

Worldwide protests
Along with other members of their band, the women staged a flashmob-style performance of their song close to the altar in the cathedral on 21 February.

Continue reading the main story

In pictures: Pussy Riot support around the world
Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out", enraged the Orthodox Church - its leader Patriarch Kirill said it amounted to blasphemy.

Mr Putin was elected for a third term as president two weeks later.

Alyokhina, Tolokonnikova and Samutsevich, watching Friday's proceedings from inside a glass-walled cage in the courtroom, smiled as the widely predicted conviction was announced.

The judge then took three hours to read the verdict, before handing down "two years deprivation of liberty in a penal colony" for each defendant.

"Considering the nature and degree of the danger posed by what was done, the defendants' correction is possible only through an actual punishment," she said.

One man in the courtroom shouted "shame" at the sentencing, and there were chants and whistles from the band's supporters outside.

Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, said: "Russia's image was quite scary even before [this]. What happened now is a clear sign that Russia is moving towards becoming more like China or North Korea."

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny added: "They are in jail because it is Putin's personal revenge. This verdict was written by Vladimir Putin."

The defendants' lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, said they would not appeal to President Putin for a pardon. However, there will be a legal appeal against the verdict.

Amnesty International said the ruling was a "bitter blow" for freedom of expression in Russia.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and the UK's Foreign Office criticised the severity of the sentences.

US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "We urge Russian authorities to review this case and ensure that the right to freedom of expression is upheld."

On Thursday, Tolokonnikova had said she was "not bitter about being in jail". But, speaking through her lawyer on Twitter, she said: "Politically, I am furious."

"Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country," she said.

The women have been detained for the past five months.

Associated Press news agency said a number of protesters had been arrested outside the court before the sentencing was announced, including ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov and opposition politician Sergei Udaltsov.

There were also pro-Pussy Riot protests in Paris, where demonstrators in Igor Stravinsky square chanted "Freedom", and in Kiev, where women protesters sawed down a wooden cross in a central square.

Other shows of support took place in Belgrade, Berlin, Sofia, London, Dublin and Barcelona.

The band have also had vocal support from artists including Paul McCartney and Madonna, and from politicians.

Critics of the band have also been demonstrating, saying the stunt was an insult to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov was among several people arrested outside the court in Moscow
One, Igor Kim, told the BBC News website from Moscow: "Shouting and screaming and spreading hate in Church is unacceptable and is contrary with Christian ethics."

Valentina Ivanova, a retired doctor, told Reuters: "What they did showed disrespect towards everything, and towards believers first of all."

One protester outside court in Moscow simply shouted: "Let Pussy Riot and all their supporters burn in hell."

Good Riddance I say, I agree with the sentencing here. Freedom of expression doesn't include violation of private property and they should have gone for a permit or something.
and I do like the "penal colony" sentence....off to Siberia!!!

**nomsheep**

sucks to be them.

Nom

**rubiksnoob**

Well, that is QUITE a misleading title, sans context.

**xole**

It's great, isn't it? If I hadn't already read it on Yahoo and seen all of the interesting comments there I would be very excited for a thread full of wonder and decadence.

**Mannahnin**

Two years in prison?

Putin's government reminds us all that they are right up there with China when it comes to freedom of expression.

At least they weren't killed like some journalists.

**Huffy**

Mannahnin wrote:Two years in prison?

Putin's government reminds us all that they are right up there with China when it comes to freedom of expression.

At least they weren't killed like some journalists.

Just Russian government in general....and I actually expect them to fall sick after year 1 and meet an untimely end

**Lynata**

It's present-day Russia - sadly, this was to be expected. I'm actually somewhat surprised it's "only" two years, though I'm sure those two years will be hell.

**LordofHats**

The title had me thinking this was some kind of mooning episode gone array XD It would have been more entertaining.

**BolingbrokeIV**

So going by the reaction of the American posters I'm guessing this story hasn't got much coverage in the US. Wierd because the British media have been Pussy Rioting all summer.

**Squidmanlolz**

Glorioski wrote:So going by the reaction of the American posters I'm guessing this story hasn't got much coverage in the US. Wierd because the British media have been Pussy Rioting all summer.

There was a blurb on CNN this afternoon, that's about it...

**LordofHats**

Glorioski wrote:So going by the reaction of the American posters I'm guessing this story hasn't got much coverage in the US. Wierd because the British media have been Pussy Rioting all summer.

To be honest, doing what PR did would probably get a lot of Americans wanting them to be jailed too. I here some people get peeved when groups of random women disrupt a church service with obscene lyrics about politics or some such

**nomsheep**

I wouldn't be overly suprised if they were ut away for doing that here.

we just wouldn't say that was the reason.

Nom

**LordofHats**

While I do find the sentence excessive, at the same time gotta say "that's what you get." What PR does is extremely disruptive and annoying.

I hear 'flash performance' and I just think of a bunch of dicks popping up in the middle of my business making a lot of noise and a scene disrupting whatever I'm trying to do.

So good riddance?

**BolingbrokeIV**

I think standing up to Putin's government is honourable. The guy is effectively a dictator. So they get worldwide support by using some two thousand year old cult's haunt, more power to them.

**CT GAMER**

One in the pink two in the clink?

**xole**

Frankly, I'm disappointed.

And not sorry to see them gone.

**Monster Rain**

Surely they knew this wasn't a good idea?

**nomsheep**

Monster Rain wrote:Surely they knew this wasn't a good idea?

I'm guessing so, they probably just hoped it would have a lot more effect than it did.

Nom

**LordofHats**

The irony is that pseudo-dictator or not, Putin is very popular in Russia. People like him. And frankly, he's not that bad. Compared to some of Russia's Pre-Yeltsin leaders, Putin's a kitten. He seems content to let people be so long as they let him be in charge

But yeah. Two things you don't insult in Russia. The Orthodox Church, and Putin. Insulting one while inside the other, probably not gonna end well.

**nomsheep**

what if you insulted the Orthodox church while inside Putin?

Nom

**LordofHats**

Well that might qualify as rape... Maybe... I don't know if Putin is into that kind of thing

**Daemonhammer**

Welcome to russia. During the communism it was even worse.

**nomsheep**

LordofHats wrote:Well that might qualify as rape... Maybe... I don't know if Putin is into that kind of thing

by the time I was done he would be. XD

**GalacticDefender**

What the feth...

But yeah Russia's speech is actually pretty free compared to that of China, to say nothing of North Korea.

**Kovnik Obama**

Didn't Rage Against the Machine do this in Wall Street? Or was that just staged?

Anyhow, punk kids will be punk kids? Putting them in prison for so long is a ridiculous sentence, who basically only serves at solidifying Russia's perception from the rest of the civilized world.

Would've been more fun if the churchgoers and the priests had joined the mush pit.

Hey hey, gotta love the French press ; ''A condemnation worty of the Inquisition''.

**LordofHats**

Kovnik Obama wrote:Hey hey, gotta love the French press ; ''A condemnation worty of the Inquisition''.

Pft, please. The Inquisition would have burned them at the stake and then talked about how they confessed their sins

**Jihadin**

Pft, please. The Inquisition would have burned them at the stake and then talked about how they confessed their sins

Which be documented along with the screams, sobs, and bouts of dispair

**Kovnik Obama**

LordofHats wrote:
Kovnik Obama wrote:Hey hey, gotta love the French press ; ''A condemnation worty of the Inquisition''.

Pft, please. The Inquisition would have burned them at the stake and then talked about how they confessed their sins

Not really. At least, not unless you were in Spain, at a very specific point in time, or were Jewish. The Inquisition was a lot less torch-happy then history has put them to be.

**Monster Rain**

nomsheep wrote:
Monster Rain wrote:Surely they knew this wasn't a good idea?

I'm guessing so, they probably just hoped it would have a lot more effect than it did.

Nom

I think it had the only effect it could have. It pissed everyone in Russia off and got them into a lot of trouble.

Also, when I clicked on this thread I really didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.

**ShumaGorath**

Mannahnin wrote:Two years in prison?

Putin's government reminds us all that they are right up there with China when it comes to freedom of expression.

At least they weren't killed like some journalists.

I think the fact that a sizeable portion of the russian populace supported the Jailing to be more disgusting. Authoritarianism is bad, but public endorsement of corruption, repression, and propaganda strike me as uniquely Russian traits.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

GalacticDefender wrote:What the feth...

But yeah Russia's speech is actually pretty free compared to that of China, to say nothing of North Korea.

That depends on the subject matter of the speech. Portions of the russian government participate in targeted executions of journalists and rights advocates regularly. It's not as televised as when a famous chinese artist is put under house arrest or a blind man "brilliantly escapes", but it's more dangerous to be in the press in Russia than it is in China. You're more likely to die.