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| Pussy Riot |
Today, the three jailed members of Russia’s Pussy Riot were
sentenced to two years imprisonment for hooliganism motivated by religious
hatred. Judge Marina Syrova spent three hours reading the verdict, while the three convicted women stood in a
glass cage in the courtroom, giggling. In the verdict, the Judge stated, “The
girls' actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the church's rules.”
Many see the verdict as a blow to freedoms of speech, including
US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who said: "We urge
Russian authorities to review this case and ensure that the right to freedom of
expression is upheld."
In February of this year, Pussy Riot held a flash
performance at the altar in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral calling on
the Virgin Mary to throw out Vladimir Putin, Russia’s former president
(2000-2008) and presidential candidate for the new 2012 term. The staging was
to protest the support the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was giving Putin.
Seven members of Pussy Riot were arrested, three of which remained in custody
to eventually receive the two year sentence for disrupting civil order. Putin
was voted back into presidency two weeks after Pussy Riot’s stunt in the
Cathedral and took office May 7.
Alexei Navalny, one of the leaders to organize the Cathedral
event, told reporters outside the courthouse after the verdict was
served, “They are in jail because it is Putin's personal revenge. This verdict
was written by Vladimir Putin.” During Putin’s new term, Parliament has already rushed through laws that tighten controls on the internet, increase fines for
protestors, and impose stricter rules on defamation.
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| Nadezhda Tolokonnikova |
Her 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.”
Pussy Riot has received lots of support of numerous international music stars, including Sting, Paul McCartney, and Madonna. Earlier this year, Madonna performed in Moscow with "PUSSY RIOT" painted on her back. Protests were held around the world in cities, such as New York, Paris, Sydney, and London, in support of the group's free speech. Worldwide protests consisted of, in Kiev, "a bare-chested feminist activist [taking] a chainsaw to a
wooden cross bearing a figure of Christ, while in Bulgaria, sympathizers put
Pussy Riot-style masks on statues at a Soviet Army monument."
Outside the courthouse, protestors supporting Pussy Riot rallied together, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who was arrested. Others outside the courthouse did not express support for the group, though. One report claims, "An opinion poll of Russians released by the independent Levada research group on
Friday showed only 6 percent had sympathy with the women, 51 percent said they
found nothing good about them or felt irritation or hostility, and the rest were
unable to say or were indifferent."
MY OPINION
I'm all for free speech, and it seems some questionable gameplay is moving with the restrictions Parliament has been instituting. However, to perform a protest at the altar in a well-known cathedral cries more to blaspheme the religious symbols of the church than just to make a political statement. Personally, I am not offended by them doing it there, but I can see how it is disrespectful. If they wished to also protest a religious leader's support, there are other places in and around the cathedral where their message could have been better received, and they could still accomplish the mission of their protest, while not unintentionally degradating the religion itself.
How do you feel about Pussy Riot and the verdict?
How do you feel about Pussy Riot and the verdict?
