Pussy Riot on Trial by PIRATENEWS

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Pussy Riot on Trial

POSTED BY: PIRATENEWS
UPDATED: Sunday, August 19, 2012 20:12
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 1674
PAGE 1 of 1

Monday, July 30, 2012 4:17 PM

John Lee, executive producer of Hollywood award-winning Pirate News TV at PirateNew.org

Three members of an all-girl punk band who took part in a protest against Vladimir Putin at the altar of Russia's main cathedral have gone on trial today in a case seen as a test of the President's tolerance of dissent.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, of the group Pussy Riot, were jailed in February after performing a song that called on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out".

Governments and rights groups said the trial might show that Mr Putin was becoming loss tolerant of dissenting voices.

The trio were led into court in handcuffs this morning and taken into a holding area made of bullet-proof glass where they answered questions from the judge regarding their education, citizenship and the birthdays of their children.

Their arrest on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility has divided Russia.

They pleaded not guilty to the official charges of hooliganism driven by "religious hatred."

Tolokonnikova said she felt sorry if some of the believers felt insulted by their act, but that they did not mean to offend anyone. It was not clear how long the trial might last, but a court has recently ruled that the women should be kept in custody for another six month.

Two other participants in the performance have not been identified and remain at large.

Supporters claim the case is a reflection of the Russian government's intolerance towards opponents.

But the Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill has called their actions "blasphemy".

Prominent figures in Russia's arts scene have urged the authorities to release the band-members.

Last week artist Petr Pavlensky sewed his mouth together in a gruesome show of support for them (video, above).

Mr Putin has avoided comment on the case, but many commentators believe that he has given his blessing to the prosecution as part of a crackdown on dissent following unprecedented protests in Moscow against his 12-year rule. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that was up to the court to issue a verdict.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/punk-trio-pussy-riot-go
-on-trial-in-test-of-putins-tolerance-7986185.html

Geez, you'd think they were in USSA.

"Kill a Commie for Mommy." -US Government motto

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:39 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Word on the wire is Putin is gonna let it slide. He's a gangster, and he has to keep the hardliners happy, but there's too much public attention and international support on this one to ship em off to the gulag. He's gonna make a show of it anyway, and spin it to the hardliners, obviously - he's a politician, that's what they do.

-F

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 2:20 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Nope.

Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in prison colony over anti-Putin protest

Russian leader accused of orchestrating case against trio found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred

Share 154 Email

Miriam Elder in Moscow guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 August 2012 21.13 BST

Pussy Riot have been jailed for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred Link to this video

Three members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot are facing two years in a prison colony after they were found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, in a case seen as the first salvo in Vladimir Putin's crackdown on opposition to his rule.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were calmly defiant as a judge handed down the sentence, to cries of "Shame!" inside and outside court. Judge Marina Syrova said she rejected their arguments that they had not intended to offend religious believers but were protesting against the Orthodox church's support for Putin.

The case has galvanised Russia's anti-Putin protest movement and raised the international profile of their cause, with dozens of protests held worldwide.

British and American officials were quick to condemn what they described as a "disproportionate" sentence. The Foreign Office minister, Alistair Burt, said: "I am deeply concerned by the sentencing of three members of the band Pussy Riot, which can only be considered a disproportionate response to an expression of political belief."

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

Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative, said she was disappointed by the verdict. "It puts a serious question mark over Russia's respect for international obligations of fair, transparent, and independent legal process," she said.

Putin has alleged that foreign powers are behind the protest movement against his rule, launched shortly after he announced last autumn that he was returning to the presidency.

Pussy Riot's supporters and opposition activists accused Putin of personally orchestrating the case against them. "They are in jail because it is Putin's personal revenge," said Alexey Navalny, the opposition's de facto leader. "The verdict was written by Vladimir Putin."

The three women were arrested in March after performing an anti-Putin "punk prayer" inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The case against them is seen as serving two functions: a warning to other dissidents, and an appeal to Putin's conservative base. Russia's growing campaign against gay rights is seen as a part of that effort, and on Friday Moscow's main court upheld a 100-year ban on gay pride rallies.

On Friday night, the Russian Orthodox church repeated its criticism of the band's "blasphemous" protest, which it said displayed "crude hostility towards millions of people" but called on state authorities "to show mercy to the people convicted within the framework of the law, in the hope that they will refrain from repeating blasphemous actions".

Dozens of protesters were arrested outside court, including chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov and leftist opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov. Hundreds more remained long after the court session had ended, shouting: "Russia without Putin!"

More than a dozen people have been arrested for taking part in a protest on 6 May against Putin, and could be jailed or fined under a new law against unauthorised demonstrations.

Navalny faces up to 10 years in prison after he was charged in a fraud case widely seen as an excuse to crack down on his activism. The country's rubber-stamp parliament has recently passed a law forcing nongovernmental organisations that receive international grants to declare themselves "foreign agents", and another that could prompt widespread censorship of the internet.

Protests in support of Pussy Riot were held around the world in New York, Vienna and dozens of other cities. The Royal Court theatre in London staged verbatim readings of the women's closing statement to the court to coincide with the verdict. Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, and Björk are among the dozens of stars who have issued messages of support. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called the sentence a bitter blow to freedom of expression inside Russia.

Activists said the case has only strengthened the growing movement against Putin's rule. "Russia must stop being a laughing stock in the eyes of the world," said one woman protesting outside the court, who declined to give her name. "We must join civilised society. I really want to hope that our government will find common sense and stop showing itself in such a monstrous way."

Boris Akunin, one of Russia's most popular authors, said that the verdict had doomed Putin to "another year and a half of international shame and humiliation."

Other supporters were less optimistic. Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov said blame for the verdict rested with one man alone: "Whatever Putin wants, Putin gets."

In public statements made earlier this month, Putin had called for the women to be judged "not too severely". Prosecutors had asked for a three-year sentence.

The women remained defiant throughout the trial, issuing powerful closing statements that quickly entered the canon of Russia's dissident speeches. "We have won," Samutsevich said in her closing statement. "The whole world now sees that the criminal case against us has been fabricated. The system cannot conceal the repressive nature of this trial. Once again, the world sees Russia differently than the way Putin tries to present it." The women intend to appeal against the sentence.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 2:35 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Free Pussy

I think we all can agree on that, yes ?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 2:44 PM

CHRISISALL

Down the centuries you have slurred the meaning of the words, WE THE PEOPLE...

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Free Pussy

I think we all can agree on that, yes ?

Dumass. They're sacrificing their freedom in hopes to make a better future for others.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:10 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall: Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Free Pussy

I think we all can agree on that, yes ?

Dumass. They're sacrificing their freedom in hopes to make a better future for others.

Rappy wouldn't know anything about sacrificing for others. It's against his religion.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:18 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Free Pussy

I think we all can agree on that, yes ?

Dumass. They're sacrificing their freedom in hopes to make a better future for others.

So, you're saying you DON'T want Pussy to be free ?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:24 PM

JONGSSTRAW

If only those gals were developing nuclear weapons and threatening the West, then no one would ever bother them.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:31 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw: If only those gals were developing nuclear weapons and threatening the West, then no one would ever bother them.

Oh, that's not true. I assure you, strongly worded letters of protest would be issued.

Well, likely. Eventually.

Maybe.

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:31 PM

CHRISISALL

Down the centuries you have slurred the meaning of the words, WE THE PEOPLE...

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

So, you're saying you DON'T want Pussy to be free ?

I see a polite 'effue' is in order here....

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:37 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

So, you're saying you DON'T want Pussy to be free ?

I see a polite 'effue' is in order here....

Dude, you painted yourself into that corner.

:biggrin:

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:42 PM

CHRISISALL

Down the centuries you have slurred the meaning of the words, WE THE PEOPLE...

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Dude, you painted yourself into that corner.

Then a simple, direct 'You Are A Dick' will do.:evil:

Chrisisall, wearing a frilly Mal thing on his head, and ready to shoot unarmed, full-body armoured Goldenmembers

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:46 PM

JONGSSTRAW

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
]Originally posted by Jongsstraw: If only those gals were developing nuclear weapons and threatening the West, then no one would ever bother them.

Oh, that's not true. I assure you, strongly worded letters of protest would be issued.

Well, likely. Eventually.

Maybe.

Obama should have sent Bill Clinton over there before the sentencing to negotiate and plead for Pussy. He's got a lot of experience in that area. He did get those two gals out of North Korea, and all he had to do was show up.

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 3:52 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:

'You Are A Dick'

Why, because I want Pussy to be free ?

Curious visual there, no ?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 4:03 PM

CHRISISALL

Down the centuries you have slurred the meaning of the words, WE THE PEOPLE...

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw: Obama should have sent Bill Clinton over there before the sentencing to negotiate and plead for Pussy. He is experienced in that area. He did get those two gals out of North Korea, and all he had to do was show up.

Pardon me if I offend your possible love of Obama, but he's an ineffectual prig, and has no love of poor stupid protesting chicks with a cause; in that way, he and Rappy are not dissimilar.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 4:12 PM

JONGSSTRAW

Can't Jenna Jameson offer Vladdy a full body rub or something to free the girls? Or maybe we could offer to trade the Glee cast for them. A couple of years in the can would do wonders for that bunch.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 4:30 PM

CHRISISALL

Down the centuries you have slurred the meaning of the words, WE THE PEOPLE...

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw: Jenna Jameson

Who's that, J. Jonah's daughter?

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 4:34 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw: Jenna Jameson
Who's that, J. Jonah's daughter?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, August 17, 2012 9:53 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

The US has led global condemnation of the two-year prison sentences given to Russian punk band Pussy Riot, as supporters of the women grabbed balaclavas and took to the streets in protest around the world.

The sentences were called "disproportionate" by the US in a criticism echoed by Britain, France and the European Union, which all used the same word in condemning the punishment handed down for the band's "punk prayer" against Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

"The United States is concerned about both the verdict and the disproportionate sentences ... and the negative impact on freedom of expression in Russia," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/russia-condemned-over-pussy-riot-jailin
g-20120818-24et7.html#ixzz23sk1ZBHP

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:52 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

I think we can all agree that this is a travesty of justice.

I mean, their music can't be THAT bad, could it ?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen " We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, August 18, 2012 11:34 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, executive producer of Hollywood award-winning Pirate News TV at PirateNew.org

Russian Band Is Found Guilty in Commie KGB Chief Putin False Flag Terror Protest, Sentenced to 2 Years in Gulag Archipelago, Crowd Demands Death for All Communists

Pussy riot releases new single today: Putin Can Suck My Hairy Kont

MOSCOW—Three members of a feminist-performance group whose anti-Kremlin "punk prayer" inside Russia's main Orthodox cathedral led to one of the most politically charged trials of the country's post-Soviet era were convicted of hooliganism Friday and sentenced to two years in prison.

The decision, read by a Moscow judge as the defendants stood handcuffed in a glass pen in the courtroom, ratified what critics of President Vladimir Putin call a growing clampdown on dissent. Political analysts said there was little doubt Mr. Putin swayed the outcome.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal the verdict in Russia and in the European Court of Human Rights.

Politicians and analysts said the two-year sentence appeared to reflect Mr. Putin's determination that authorities show some measure of toughness toward opposition activists.

"This was definitely Putin's decision," said Masha Lipman, an analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center. "He did not want to look weak in the eyes of Russia's elite, even at the cost of the country's reputation."

The case of the women, members of a performance-art collective called Pussy Riot, has highlighted the cultural divide between the secular, Westernized forces that last winter began protesting against Mr. Putin's 12-year domination of the country's politics, and the conservative Russians who, led in part by the Orthodox Church hierarchy, have supported him

The defendants—Maria Alyokhina, 24 years old, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30—testified that their Feb. 21 performance in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral was a protest against the church's leader, Patriarch Kirill I, for backing Mr. Putin's candidacy in the March 4 election.

In a verdict that took more than three hours to read aloud, Judge Marina Syrova cited testimony by nine church workers who said they suffered "moral damage" after witnessing what some of them called a demonic dance.

The women, wearing brightly colored balaclavas, short skirts and tights, had entered the nearly-empty cathedral and had begun miming their performance. Guards stopped them in less than a minute. But a video, spliced with earlier footage from a different church and set to music with lewd lyrics and the refrain "Mother of God, drive Putin out," went viral on the Internet.

The judge said the trio had acted out of "religious hatred," committed "a grave violation of public order," and displayed "obvious disrespect for society."

"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.

Cries of "Shame!" and "This is not fair!" erupted in the packed courtroom and were echoed by the crowd outside. The defendants, who had mocked much of the proceedings, greeted the sentence with giggles; one rolled her eyes.

Their families reacted somberly. "What they did is not right, but what the court did is much worse," said Vladimir Zhiyanov, Ms. Alyokhina's father.

Pyotr Verzilov, Ms. Tolokonnikova's husband and father of her child, said, "The only thing that can save my wife and daughter is a revolution."

A statement by the Orthodox Church called the sentence "a commensurate reaction…to blasphemous acts" but urged authorities to show mercy to the women, two of whom have small children.

Hundreds protested Friday outside the courthouse as the women, held without bail since their March arrest, were driven away in a police van. Police detained more than 50 demonstrators.

Nearby, a smaller crowd sang religious hymns and denounced the defendants, whose provocative stunt had aroused anger among followers of Orthodox Christianity, the country's majority faith.

U.S. and European officials called on Russia to review the case. The U.S. State Department said it was concerned about "the negative impact on freedom of expression." The European Union's foreign-policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said the sentence was disproportionate to the offense and "puts a serious question mark" over Russia's commitment to judicial independence.

Since Mr. Putin's return to the presidency on May 7, after four years as prime minister, his government has prosecuted demonstrators, raided opposition leaders' homes, and tightened laws on public protests, Internet regulation and nongovernmental groups.

Hooliganism in Russia carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years; prosecutors sought three. As the women languished in jail, surveys showed public opinion turned sharply against further jail time. At the trial, they apologized to Christians for any offense, saying their protest was strictly political.

Russia hasn't been so riveted by a political trial since billionaire tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who had challenged Mr. Putin's authority, was found guilty of fraud in the same courtroom two years ago, his second criminal conviction since his 2003 arrest.

Robert Teets, an American lawyer who monitored the second Khodorkovsky trial and the Pussy Riot trial, said Judge Syrova was more observant of some legal principles than the judge who tried the tycoon. But he called the pace of the Pussy Riot trial "an untoward rush to justice" that made international outrage over the outcome "fully justified."

Trial sessions ran as long as 10 hours a day and the defendants said they weren't able to get enough rest or food in between to properly prepare for testimony. While denying allegations of favoritism, Judge Syrova rejected defense lawyers' requests to summon witnesses and cut off many of their questions to those called by the prosecution.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444375104577594790007246
410.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Communist Dictator Hussein Obama Soetoro orders prosuctors and police to arrest all political protestors http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/09/attacking-obama/

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, August 19, 2012 8:12 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Putin is a dork, he's been in charge wayyyyyyyyy too long, don't they have term limits over there or is he in charge until he crokes.

I assume you're my pal until you let me know otherwise. "A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

YOUR OPTIONS

SHARE THREAD

NEW POSTS TODAY

USER	POST DATE

USER

POST DATE