Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot have been sentenced to two years jail after being found guilty of hooliganism in a Moscow District Court today.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty on charges of hooliganism committed by a group of persons motivated by religious hatred, under article 213, part 2 of Russia’s criminal code.
The three band members were deemed to have ridiculed President Vladimir Putin when they adorned balaclavas and short fluorescent dresses and entered the Russian capital’s Orthodox cathedral, singing for the Virgin Mary to “drive out Putin.” The incident took place on February 21 of this year, just weeks before the March 4 elections in which Mr. Putin won a historic third term.
Moscow District Court judge Marina Syrova said Tolokonnikova, Alekhina, Samutsevich, who have spent the past five months in pretrial custody, had “carefully planned” the protest inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
“Tolokonnikova, Alekhina and Samutsevich committed hooliganism — in other words, a grave violation of public order,” judge Syrova said. “The court finds them guilty. The court reached this decision based on testimony of the defendants themselves and other evidence.”
The judge had heard testimonies from witnesses, who accused the musicians of sacrilege and “devilish dances” in church and said that their feminist views made them hate the Orthodox religion. One psychologist said that Tolokonnikova’s “active stance on social issues” was an anomaly.
The verdict caused an array of emotion from protestors outside the courtroom. Witnesses claim about 30 Pussy Riot supporters, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov and the radical leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov, were taken away into waiting vans by police.
The sentencing by Judge Syrova has also caused international outcry, with several governments, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany already denouncing the sentences as disproportionate.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: “While we understand the group’s behavior was offensive to some, we have serious concerns about the way that these young women have been treated by the Russian judicial system.”
Human Rights Watch spokesperson Hugh Williamson said the Pussy Riot members should not be serving anymore time: “The charges and verdict against the Pussy Riot band members distort both the facts and the law… these women should never have been charged with a hate crime and should be released immediately.”
Echoing the voice of others, Amnesty International strongly condemned the court’s ruling and dubbed the woman prisoners of conscience: “[The ruling] shows that the Russian authorities will stop at no end to suppress dissent and stifle civil society.”
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