Pussy Riot punk group convicted of hooliganism
Three members of the Russian all-girl punk group Pussy Riot have been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for their performance inside a Moscow cathedral criticizing President Vladimir Putin.
Judge Marina Syrova handed down the verdict Friday in a Moscow court. Sentencing was expected later in the day. While prosecutors have sought a three-year prison term, the women could face a maximum of seven years behind bars.
The band was little known before its brief impromptu performance in Christ the Saviour Cathedral in February. Dancing and high-kicking, they shouted the words of a "punk prayer" asking the Virgin Mary to deliver Russia from Putin, who was set to win a third term in a March presidential election.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, have been in detention since March.
The church has been calling for a tough sentence, while Putin, who criticized the group's demonstration against him, has recommended leniency.
The trial of the band members has made them an international cause célèbre. They have received public support from musicians such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Paul McCartney and Madonna.
Canadian artist Peaches, who is based in Berlin, has gathered 85,000 signatures on a petition in just five days in support of Pussy Riot on the social action website Change.org. The singer also created a Free Pussy Riot video featuring supporters in masks.
Activists in cities around the world staged protests that began an hour before the verdict was handed down.
In Kiev, a topless woman cut down a Christian cross with a chainsaw in a show of support for the band members. Reuters reported that Inna Shevchenko, a member of a women's rights group, cut down the cross, which was erected on a hill overlooking the city centre to commemorate victims of Stalinist repression and the famine of the 1930s.
Toronto protesters are planning to gather at noon ET at the Russian consulate.
There is an apparent Canadian link to the group. Band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, a Russian-Canadian, has told CBC News his wife holds permanent resident status in Canada and has an Ontario health card.
However, her status in Canada is not clear. A photo of a permanent residency card with Tolokonnikova's name on it has been posted on the internet, but in a video that is also online, she says she has only a visa to Canada.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/08/17/pussy-riot-verdict-moscow-russia.html
kasparov outside the courtroom
Ironicwarcriminal posted:It's pretty astonishing how much liberals actually believe that their art is immune from the censure of state power
cultural imperialism is evil and must be stopped, except this one time bc some qtpie indie babes might read my facebook posts and choose me as their mate - what american liberals litteraly believe
stegosaurus posted:wheres limonov, these ladies seem like theyre right up his alley
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_01/Western-artists-weigh-in-on-Pussy-Riot-case/
There is even more ambiguous attitude towards Pussy Riot in political circles. During his regular video conference, Chairman of The Other Russia coalition Eduard Limonov refused to express his position on this case
I was wondering about this, presumably he's torn between how much he hates putin and how much he hates liberals
Ridiculous and self-defeating.
also i accidentally upvoted getfiscals op, free rep for all
ilmdge posted:lol why 2 years though
also i accidentally upvoted getfiscals op, free rep for all
To send a clear message that societies and states have not yet been totally disintegrated into an amoral, individualistic free for all. There have been a litany of wreckers and saboteurs throughout russian history who have received far greater punishment than this, the "outcry" against their jailing is just another of global neoliberalism's many tentacles.
If you're on the same side as the red hot chili peppers in a political debate maybe it's time to take a step back.
Ironicwarcriminal posted:when you think about it, what they did wasn't really much different to torching a mosque
imo there's an important difference between culturally endogenous intrusion into traditional spaces and exogenous examples of same
ilmdge posted:lol why 2 years though
also i accidentally upvoted getfiscals op, free rep for all
i assume they looked at the sentencing guidelines and looked at the sentencing outcomes of tried cases of comparable magnitude to come to a fair, just and proportionate conclusion taking into account all due social & moral circumstances and public policy
Ironicwarcriminal posted:If you're on the same side as the red hot chili peppers in a political debate maybe it's time to take a step back.
babyfinland posted:well these women and their families haven't been disappeared, as they would have in any muslim country, so that's nice
deadken posted:i dont really care about this at all. is it ok to not care about this. pretty sure its fine
*grunts in approval, hands u an ice cold bud lite*
getfiscal posted:babyfinland posted:well these women and their families haven't been disappeared, as they would have in any muslim country, so that's nice
indeed the tyrannical yoke under which the people of the muslim world and the people of the ussr lived are more similar than not, ie reactionary anti-capitalist (or neocolonial) state formations
about an hour ago · Like · 2
babyfinland posted:getfiscal posted:babyfinland posted:well these women and their families haven't been disappeared, as they would have in any muslim country, so that's nice
indeed the tyrannical yoke under which the people of the muslim world and the people of the ussr lived are more similar than not, ie reactionary anti-capitalist state formations
i don't really think i'd define the 'muslim world' as primarily 'anti-capitalist'
AmericanNazbro posted:babyfinland posted:getfiscal posted:babyfinland posted:well these women and their families haven't been disappeared, as they would have in any muslim country, so that's nice
indeed the tyrannical yoke under which the people of the muslim world and the people of the ussr lived are more similar than not, ie reactionary anti-capitalist state formations
i don't really think i'd define the 'muslim world' as primarily 'anti-capitalist'
ya true, i edited in (or neocolonial) but you quoted it beforehand
AmericanNazbro posted:babyfinland posted:getfiscal posted:babyfinland posted:well these women and their families haven't been disappeared, as they would have in any muslim country, so that's nice
indeed the tyrannical yoke under which the people of the muslim world and the people of the ussr lived are more similar than not, ie reactionary anti-capitalist state formations
i don't really think i'd define the 'muslim world' as primarily 'anti-capitalist'
watch it. it may be unwise to contest w/ The Boss.
Pussy Riot members accused of blasphemy and hatred of religion? The answer is easy: the true blasphemy is the state accusation itself, formulating as a crime of religious hatred something which was clearly a political act of protest against the ruling clique. Recall Brecht’s old quip from his Beggars’ Opera: “What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of a new bank?” In 2008, Wall Street gave us the new version: what is the stealing of a couple of thousand of dollars, for which one goes to prison, compared to financial speculations that deprive tens of millions of their homes and savings, and are then rewarded by state help of sublime grandeur? Now, we got another version from Russia, from the power of the state: What is a modest Pussy Riot obscene provocation in a church compared to the accusation against Pussy Riot, this gigantic obscene provocation of the state apparatus which mocks any notion of decent law and order?
Was the act of Pussy Riot cynical? There are two kinds of cynicism: the bitter cynicism of the oppressed which unmasks the hypocrisy of those in power, and the cynicism of the oppressors themselves who openly violate their own proclaimed principles. The cynicism of Pussy Riot is of the first kind, while the cynicism of those in power — why not call their authoritarian brutality a Prick Riot — is of the much more ominous second kind.
Back in 1905, Leon Trotsky characterized tsarist Russia as “a vicious combination of the Asian knout and the European stock market.” Does this designation not hold more and more also for the Russia of today? Does it not announce the rise of the new phase of capitalism, capitalism with Asian values (which, of course, has nothing to do with Asia and everything to do with the anti-democratic tendencies in today’s global capitalism). If we understand cynicism as ruthless pragmatism of power which secretly laughs at its own principles, then Pussy Riot are anti-cynicism embodied. Their message is: IDEAS MATTER. They are conceptual artists in the noblest sense of the word: artists who embody an Idea. This is why they wear balaclavas: masks of de-individualization, of liberating anonymity. The message of their balaclavas is that it doesn’t matter which of them got arrested — they’re not individuals, they’re an Idea. And this is why they are such a threat: it is easy to imprison individuals, but try to imprison an Idea!
The panic of those in power — displayed by their ridiculously excessive brutal reaction — is thus fully justified. The more brutally they act, the more important symbol Pussy Riot will become. Already now the result of the oppressive measures is that Pussy Riot are a household name literally all around the world.
It is the sacred duty of all of us to prevent that the courageous individuals who compose Pussy Riot will not pay in their flesh the price for their becoming a global symbol.
