Pussy Riot were arrested for freedom of expression

Vladimir Putin recently claimed that democracy is the fundamental right of the people to elect their government as well as to continuously influence it and the decision-making process. Yet the recent detention of three members of an all-female punk band for a protest performance suggests that state censorship and violations against free expression remain as strong as ever in Russia.

An authoritarian regime inevitably forces dissidents to create new, often artistic, forms of resistance. In late 2011 a group of Russian feminists formed a punk rock band, Pussy Riot, in order to protest against Vladimir Putin’s decision to return as president. They staged unannounced “flash” performances in outdoor spaces and on public transport. Their imaginative interventions gained wider attention in January 2012, when they held a brief performance outside the Kremlin. Their lyrics included the lines “Revolt in Russia – the charisma of protest! Revolt in Russia, Putin’s got scared!” They were arrested and fined.

On 21 February 2012, four members of the band entered the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow, wearing colourful outfits and balaclavas to hide their faces. They danced in front of the altar, singing a “punk prayer” before being escorted from the building. The song was critical of Putin and the Russian Orthodox church’s close ties to the Kremlin. The action lasted only a few minutes, there was no violence and the activists caused no damage.

Three members of the band, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samusevich were later arrested and charged with “hooliganism” under Article 213 of the Russian Criminal Code. If convicted, they face up to seven years in prison. The women claim that they were not among the masked performers at the Cathedral. Both Alyokhina and Tolonnikova have young children and Tolonnikova claims that her four-year-old-daughter is traumatised by her imprisonment.

On 19 April, the Tagansky Court in Moscow extended their pre-trial detention to 24 June arguing that further time is needed to find witnesses and participants at the event. More than 100 demonstrators and journalists gathered outside the court, some of whom were detained. Police reportedly arrested anyone with signs or slogans related to the group. The women have also received support from mainstream pop artists calling for their release, among them Russian popstar, Alla Pugachyova, who described the arrests as “shooting sparrows with a cannon”.

Lobby groups such as Amnesty International, Freemuse and PEN have denounced the charges, believing the women have been targeted for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs. Amnesty has declared them “prisoners of conscience”.

Many are now sending appeals to President Putin via the Kremlin website calling for the release of the three women who are detained for their protest songs as this in direct violation of their right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Russia.

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• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RZOX3GRFGIRPDMSS425EF5G3G4 Lol

  FREE THE THREE!!!!
  Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samusevich

• Reiner Torheit

  The real crook here is the so-called “Patriach” of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill – a former KGB officer and close friend of Vladimir Putin.  This sack of pseudo-religious scum is no “believer’, and hasn’t a “Christian” bone in his body.  Christians are supposed to forgive – but this KGB nutter is pressing for a sentence of 7 years in a labour camp.  The Criminal Codex in Russia only allocates 3 years for cases of car theft, so how Kriminal Kirill figures to have them sent down for 7 years for SINGING A SONG is beyond all belief.

  If Putin and his KGB stooges think this is going to go away – they’re very wrong. So far we’ve only seen a police helmet thrown in the river.  But that’s only the start.

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JJIRZTDALPDLSKYNZONES7OG6Y Keith

  Dear friends,

  I just signed a petition to the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, asking him to condemn the “homosexual propaganda” law just passed in Saint Petersburg, and prevent the law from spreading nationwide. This terrible law makes it a crime for anybody to read, write, blog about, or declare any kind of support for gay rights in Russia. And it’s already being used to shut down free speech.

  Sergey Kondrashov, a straight married attorney, was just arrested in Saint Petersburg, Russia for holding up a banner that read: “A dear family friend is lesbian. My wife and I love and respect her … and her family is just as equal as ours.” On April 16 Sergey will go to court, where he could be fined and even thrown in jail for 15 days. Sergey is taking a stand, now let’s make sure that he, and the Russian Prime Minister, know the whole world is watching.

  Please add your name to this letter, asking Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to denounce the absurd anti-gay law that made somebody like Sergey a criminal, and to do everything in his power to stop this unconstitutional law from spreading nationwide:

  you may do this via www.allout.org where they have an online petition

  thanks

  Keith

• champagnehockey

  I can’t help thinking that they’d be arrested in the UK for similar protests in equivalent places.  This is not intended to downplay their situation, and I naively hope that the parallels end there.  I can’t see any reason for optimism on that front, and I won’t be holding my breath waiting for pressure from NATO governments to help them.

• cillo000

  Wake up!! this would have happend in the uk as well… The cold war is over folks.. Get over it…

• TheOnlyWayIsNorfolk

  In a third world police state called Ingerlund Maya Evans was arrested for reading a list of war dead. It is illegal to name the accusers in rape allegations (but not men accused as Ched Evans and Clayton McDonald discovered) and there are 2 million innocent folks with their DNA on a database ruled illegal by Strasbourg. Now, you were saying about Volya and his goons?

• http://www.facebook.com/JamesFinta Noctis Wolf

  This is how all tyrants are.  Tyrants care not for the rule of law.  For a Tyrant is the Law. A Tyrant may do as they wish with no fear of legal punishment.  Tyrants have no real or clear laws limiting their actions.  

  If they do have limiting laws, then the Tyrant may ignore them when they want to.  Ignoring limiting laws and almost never facing legal punishment for doing so.

  http://lifelightandliberty.blogspot.com/2012/04/impact-of-tyranny-on-people.html