Pussy Riot jailed for religious hooliganism

The judge said the three members of Pussy Riot had “crudely undermined social order” and were motivated by religious hatred.

The women have already been in jail for over five months and were sentenced to two years each, starting from when they were first arrested.

Their lawyers said they would appeal the verdict and will take the case to Strasbourg’s European Court of Human Rights.

Cries of “shame” were heard in the courtroom immediately after the verdict, while outside the court supporters shouted anti-Putin chants and applauded the three women as their bus pulled away. Opponents of the band held religious icons and sang prayers.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, and other members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot burst into Moscow’s Christ the Saviour cathedral in balaclavas and short skirts on 21 February to sing a protest urging the Virgin Mary to “Throw Putin out” [see video below].

husband of Pussy Riot Nadia: “2 years is what Putin calls lenient”

— Jonathan Rugman (@jrug) August 17, 2012

Gallery: Pussy Riot supporters around the world

‘Motivated by religious hatred’

The full verdict focused on what the judge said was a deliberate offence against religous believers. Witnesses during the trial spoke of the moral and religious injury as a result of the band’s “punk prayer” in Moscow’s cathedral.

According to the Interfax news agency translation of the verdict, Judge Marina Syrova said: “The Pussy Riot singers colluded under unestablished circumstances, for the purpose of offensively violating public peace in a sign of flagrant disrespect for citizens.

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

“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,” the judge added.

In their closing statements, the three women emphasised that theirs was a political protest, not intended to personally offend anyone’s religious beliefs.

Amnesty International said the sentence was a “bitter blow for freedom” in Russia.

A mixed crowed of media, supporters and those opposed to Pussy Riot, was packed together outside the court on Friday to wait for the final verdict. Journalists outside the court reported that Sergei Stanislavovich Udaltsov, a Russian political activist who has led protests against Vladimir Putin, was arrested at the scene. Other demonstrators were seen being pulled away by police. Another 60 people

‘Miracle of God’

Pussy Riot’s protest was intended as a criticism of the links between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox church – they say it was not their intention to offend Orthadox believers.

The head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, said in March that Vladimir Putin‘s rule was a “miracle of God” and backed his re-election campaign.

The church denies having any role in politics but about half of Russians believe it does, according to an opinion poll released this week. Three-quarters of respondents said they thought religion should stay out of politics.

Disproportionate response?

Even among opposition groups in Russia, the nature of Pussy Riot’s protest and the choice of the main Orthodox Church was controversial.

Russia may be a secular state but it is a conservative society and many people found it difficult to accept their form of protest, including one of the main Muslim leaders who spoke out against their actions, says Lilit Gevorgyan, Russia specialist at IHS Global Insight.

On the one hand, you have extreme liberals who think it’s brilliant and that Pussy Riot have challenge the political establishment, and the relationship between the church and the state. On the other hand, there are deeply religious groups who believe they should be locked away for seven years. Lilit Gevorgyan

“On the one hand, you have extreme liberals who think it’s brilliant and that they [Pussy Riot] have challenge the political establishment, and the relationship between the church and the state,” she told Channel 4 News. “On the other hand, there are deeply conservative groups who believe they should be locked away for seven years.”

However the two-year prison sentence and the condition of the women’s detention without bail has been called a disproportionate penalty to the acts carried out. Critics say it is a further example of the Kremlin’s crackdown on any form of politicial opposition, and the British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said the sentence called into question Russia’s committment to the “right to freedom of expression”, and applying the rule of law in a “non-discriminatory and proportionate way”.

Vladimir Putin and his government are aware of the international profile of this case, Ms Gevorgyan told Channel 4 News: “I think they do care – Putin intervened and asked for more lenient sentence. But the government is caught between the ultra-liberals and ultra-nationalists.”

Solidarity protests

Small protests have been held in other cities around the world, including in Paris and in Sofia, Bulgaria, and an informal group called Free Pussy Riot! has used social media to urge people to demonstrate.

A topless protester from Ukraine‘s Femen group brought down a big wooden Orthodox cross in central Kiev with a chainsaw on the morning of the trial in solidarity with the Russian women. Irina Shevchenko had the words “Free Riot” painted across her bare chest, started a chainsaw and took down a large cross.

The case has also drawn international condemnation from musicians, free speech advocates and opponents of Vladamir Putin, who say the case shows his intolerance of political dissent. Madonna, Pete Townshend of The Who, and former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney have spoken out in defence of the band.