Basic facts
- Pussy riot are a russian feminist punk rock group with approximately 10 members aged 20-33
- They were originally famous for wearing brightly coloured balaclavas and staging unauthorized provocative guerrilla performances in unusual public locations, which are edited into music videos and posted on the Internet.
- 5 members were arrested for performing at the soleas of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The women said their protest was directed at the Orthodox Church leader's support for Putin during his election campaign.
- Out of the 5 arrested 3 were sentenced to 2 years
- Pussy Riot's LGBT advocacy is seen in a negative light by conservative Russians; according to a Levada poll published in 2010, 74% of Russians view homosexuality as a moral perversion or mental illness.
- At the conclusion of the trial, a series of Levada Center polls showed that, of 1600 Russians surveyed in 45 cities nationwide, 42% also believed Pussy Riot had been arrested for insulting the shrines and beliefs of the Orthodox Church. Meanwhile, 29% saw it as a case of general hooliganism, while only 19% saw it as a political protest against Putin.
- On August 9, 2012, 400 Pussy Riot supporters in Berlin marched, wearing colored balaclavas, in a show of support for the group.
- Lavada Center Poll translation
Useful quotes
- The women were motivated by religious enmity and hatred, and acted provocatively and in an insulting manner inside a religious building in the presence of a large number of believers. (Judge Marina Syrova)
- "They were just very determined. Very purposeful. Everybody was so angry at that time. But what came across was just how educated they were. How well thought out their ideas were. They quoted everybody from Simone de Beauvoir to the Ramones. It wasn't just a silly prank. There was a real message behind it." (Miriam Elder)
- There's been a blatant disregard for due process: the imprisonment without trial; the refusal of bail; the lack of time they have to prepare the case.
- What's not in dispute is that Pussy Riot did cause offence. But that was the point. "The church of Christ the Saviour was chosen for very specific, symbolic reasons," says Verzilov. "It was blown up by Stalin to show his power against the church and in the 60s was turned into a swimming pool."And then the Soviet Union collapsed. "And Moscow's first post-Soviet mayor, Luzhkov, decided to rebuild the cathedral. At that time, in the early 90s, the most successful commercial enterprise in the country was organised crime, and he said I need $1bn and whoever doesn't pay is going to jail."It became a very important governmental symbol. And it's supposed to be the most sacred place in Russia. But it's very commercialised: there's a massive parking garage under it, and banqueting halls you can hire out for $10,000 a day.
- They have taken feminism to one of the most macho countries on Earth. they have revealed the faultlines at the heart of the Russian state, the moral bankruptcy of the Putin regime.
Sources