Pussy Riot members receive two-year jail sentence in Russia

Members of the punk band Pussy Riot, who staged an anti-Putin performance in one of Moscow’s more important Orthodox churches, have been sentenced today to two year’s jail term for the crime of hooliganism. 

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, performed covered with balaclavas inside Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Their performance included a few words of a “punk prayer” saying: “Mother of God, drive out Putin”. 

Locked in a bulletproof cage, the three heard Judge Marina Syrova’s explanations for her verdict. She said that the band members had “carefully planned” their 21^st February action inside the cathedral. She said they committed hooliganism, that is to say “a grave violation of public order”. 

Today’s sentence arrived after five months detention for the three women. 

Tolokonnikova said before the verdict that she was “not bitter about being in jail”. But, speaking through her lawyer on Twitter, she said: “Politically, I am furious” and added: “Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country.” 

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

Today’s verdict literally divided Russian public opinion and caused several arrests among protesters outside the courtroom, Associated Press said. Russian police rounded up, amongst others, former chess champion Garry Kasparov and the opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov. 

The cause became an emblem of Russia’s intolerance towards dissent and residual freedom of speech. It underlined also the increasing influence of Russian Orthodox Church over political matters. Though church and state are two different entities in Russia, the church sees itself as Russian national identity legitimator and derives part of its power from that.

International celebrities such as Paul McCartney, Madonna and Björk backed international protests, asking for the liberation of the three women. 

In Paris, pro-Pussy Riot demonstrators met up in Igor Stravinsky square and chanted: “Freedom” and in Kiev, women protesters sawed down a wooden cross in one of the central squares.

Nikolai Polozov, the defendants’ lawyer, confirmed they would not appeal to President Putin for a pardon. However, there will be a legal appeal against today’s verdict.

Annalisa Ratti