Three members of the anti-Putin feminist punk group Pussy Riot have today been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.
The group have been sentenced to two years in prison after performing an anti Kremlin protest in Moscow’s main cathedral in April earlier this year.
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 performed a “punk prayer”, which they say was part of their political protest against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, who is said to have backed Putin in the Russian elections in March earlier this year.
In the verdict, judge Marina Syrova said that their protest was founded on “motives of religious hatred and enmity” rather than policis.
“Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and Alyokhina committed an act of hooliganism, a gross violation of public order showing obvious disrespect for society”
“They have deliberately placed themselves against Orthodox believers.”
On Thursday, Tolokonnikova had said she was “not bitter about being in jail [but] politically, I am furious.”
“Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country,” she said.
There has been substantial support for Pussy Riots outside the court where the verdict was delivered and around the world.
A topless woman in Kiev with ‘FREE RIOT’ written across her chest showed solidarity by sawing down a wooden crucifix, while protesters in Paris chanted ‘freedom’.
Celebrity supporters of Pussy Riot have included Paul McCartney and Madonna, who supported Pussy riot at a concert in Moscow by brandishing ‘pussy riot’ on her back.
Despite such support, Reuters have reported that an opinion poll of Russians released by the independent Levada research group today “showed only six per cent had sympathy with the women, 51 per cent said they found nothing good about them or felt irritation or hostility, and the rest were unable to say or were indifferent.”
Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism
Three members of the anti-Putin feminist punk group Pussy Riot have today been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.
The group have been sentenced to two years in prison after performing an anti Kremlin protest in Moscow’s main cathedral in April earlier this year.
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 performed a “punk prayer”, which they say was part of their political protest against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, who is said to have backed Putin in the Russian elections in March earlier this year.
In the verdict, judge Marina Syrova said that their protest was founded on “motives of religious hatred and enmity” rather than policis.
“Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and Alyokhina committed an act of hooliganism, a gross violation of public order showing obvious disrespect for society”
“They have deliberately placed themselves against Orthodox believers.”
On Thursday, Tolokonnikova had said she was “not bitter about being in jail [but] politically, I am furious.”
“Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country,” she said.
There has been substantial support for Pussy Riots outside the court where the verdict was delivered and around the world.
A topless woman in Kiev with ‘FREE RIOT’ written across her chest showed solidarity by sawing down a wooden crucifix, while protesters in Paris chanted ‘freedom’.
Celebrity supporters of Pussy Riot have included Paul McCartney and Madonna, who supported Pussy riot at a concert in Moscow by brandishing ‘pussy riot’ on her back.
Despite such support, Reuters have reported that an opinion poll of Russians released by the independent Levada research group today “showed only six per cent had sympathy with the women, 51 per cent said they found nothing good about them or felt irritation or hostility, and the rest were unable to say or were indifferent.”