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Pussy Riot

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Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot, one of the three women to be tried, is escorted to a courtroom in Moscow, on April 19, 2012.
 

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Members of Pussy Riot Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina are escorted to a court hearing in Moscow, on August 17, 2012.
 

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Yekaterina Samutsevich of Pussy Riot, one of the three women to be tried, sits in a defendant's cage in a district court in Moscow, on June 20, 2012.

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Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, of Pussy Riot, one of the three women to be tried, sits in the defendant's cell before a court hearing in Moscow, on August 8, 2012.
 

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Members of the punk group Pussy Riot, from left, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, in a glass cage in a courtroom in Moscow, on August 17, 2012.
 

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Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (left) and Maria Alyokhina, look out from the defendant's cell in a courtroom in Moscow, on July 30, 2012.
 

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Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (left), Maria Alyokhina (right) and Yekaterina Samutsevich (center), sit behind glass during a court hearing in Moscow, on on July 30, 2012. Russian prosecutors asked for a three year jail sentence for the three members of Pussy Riot, saying their crime of singing an anti-Vladimir Putin song in a church was so "severe" they deserved isolation.
 

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The two-year jail sentence for the three women members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot for performing a protest against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral is deepening a growing rift between Russia’s conservative heartland and its more liberal elements.

Around kitchen tables, the trial is becoming a subject so sensitive that it is banned for discussion during meal times; at others where it is discussed, friends walk out vowing never to speak again.


“People are either wholeheartedly for them or wholeheartedly against. It’s like they don’t want to know the details or cannot discuss them,” said a senior editor at a Russian news outlet, whose dinner party this weekend ended in a falling out of friends.

Said one western writer living in Moscow: “I could never discuss this with my Russian girlfriend, she just wouldn’t be able to hear any argument for what they did.”

While the sentences have drawn an outpouring of condemnation from western political and cultural leaders as excessive, in Russia the trial is provoking an intense debate between those who see it as a travesty of justice and the majority who believes it was a just punishment for desecrating a holy place.

“The main thing isn’t what Pussy Riot did but the injustice of the judicial system,” said Nasimya Khabibulinova, a 60-year-old Russian Orthodox believer. “They got a harsh sentence for what should have been an administrative offence.”

Other Muscovites have little sympathy for the women. “Two years was not enough, they should have been given 10,” said David, a business consultant in his early 30s, another Orthodox believer.

“This was a holy place and what they did violated my rights as a believer. This was a crime not just against the church but against the people there.”

The stand-off is deepening a fissure in Russian society that Mr Putin leveraged – and promoted – during his election campaign this year when he sought backing in his political heartland of conservatives and less-educated masses. For this group, just as this winter’s protest movement against vote fraud was seen as part of a conspiracy backed by foreign forces to undermine Russia, so the actions of Pussy Riot are part of an attack on Russian cultural values and the Orthodox Church.

But for the largely urban liberal minority that began to defend their rights to a fair vote this winter, the Pussy Riot trial is an attack on freedom of expression and freedom to protest.

The jail sentence “will strengthen this split in society”, said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist and former member of the United Russia ruling party. “It is now not just a political split, but a cultural and ideological one too. The polarisation is going to increase.”

The trial, in Moscow, at least, has provoked a discussion that has deepened beyond elections. “It is like an explosion,” said Anastasia, 26, an art gallery employee. “This case has huge resonance and everyone is speaking about it. It is already a kind of revolution.”

But political analysts warned the deepening polarisation in society could have unpredictable consequences in a society which for many years had steered clear of political discussion.

“There is a very fast and very dangerous politicisation of a society that is not used to being involved in politics. It is difficult to say what it will lead to,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a former political adviser to Dmitry Medvedev’s Kremlin.

“Putin sought additional capital from this during his election campaign. But this was the election season and strategically this was a huge mistake. Now the authorities don’t quite know what to do next.”

Sergei Markov, a political analyst formerly a member of the ruling United Russia party, said the court had to hand down jail sentences for the women or risk either further attacks on the Russian Orthodox church, or a radicalisation of deep-seated nationalist forces in Russia.

“If the Pussy Riot case had not ended in a jail terms, these girls could have been lynched,” he said. “Freeing them could have pushed the nationalists into a radical position and the authorities could not afford that.”

Most of all, analysts said, the response was tough because Mr Putin saw what Pussy Riot did as part of an attack on his power.

“They understand in the Kremlin that it all looks terrible,” Ms Kryshtanovskaya said. “They can either crack down which will radicalise the opposition, or allow all this to go ahead and then start to lose control. The way the Kremlins sees it, there is no good way forward.”
 

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Global condemnation for Pussy Riot sentences

European nations and the United States, as well as some celebrities, have voiced sharp criticism of Russia over jail sentences handed to three members of the punk band Pussy Riot who protested against President Vladimir Putin in a church.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said the two-year sentences give to the women were "disproportionate" to the crime and added to the intimidation of opposition activists in Russia.

The United States expressed disappointment over the verdict and also called the sentences disproportionate.

The three women were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for performing a "punk prayer" in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral in which they called on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of President Vladimir Putin.

"Together with the reports of the band members' mistreatment during pre-trial detention and the reported irregularities of the trial, it (the verdict) puts a serious question mark over Russia's respect for international obligations of fair, transparent and independent legal process," Ashton said.

"This case adds to the recent upsurge in politically motivated intimidation and prosecution of opposition activists in the Russian Federation, a trend that is of growing concern to the European Union," she said in a statement.

Human rights groups urged Russian authorities to overturn the verdict and free the three women, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement: "While we understand the group's behaviour was offensive to some, we have serious concerns about the way that these young women have been treated by the Russian judicial system."

The Pussy Riot case, seen as a test of the extent of Putin's tolerance of dissent, has added to the strain already placed on relations between Moscow and European governments by their opposed positions on the crisis in Syria.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the sentence was "excessively harsh" and "not compatible with the European values of the rule of law and democracy to which Russia, as a member of the Council of Europe, has committed itself."

"A dynamic civil society and politically active citizens are a necessary precondition for Russia's modernisation, not a threat," she said.

British Foreign Minister Alistair Burt said in a statement that the verdict "calls into question Russia's commitment to protect fundamental rights and freedoms."

'OUTRAGEOUS'

Although celebrities such as Madonna, who had spoken out against the charges previously, did not comment on Friday, others took to Twitter to voice their concern.

Rocker Bryan Adams tweeted "Outrageous ... Russian singers jailed just for speaking their mind?"

On his Twitter account, "Lord of the Rings" actor Elijah Wood posted "a shame to hear the Pussy Riot were found guilty, but not surprised."

Amnesty International said the trial was politically motivated and the women were wrongfully prosecuted for a legitimate, if potentially offensive, protest action, adding that the verdict was "a bitter blow to freedom of expression" in Russia.

Amnesty "considers all three activists to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs," it said in a statement.

"The Russian authorities should overturn the court ruling and release the members of Pussy Riot immediately and unconditionally," said John Dalhuisen, director of Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme.

Europe's main security and rights body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said the verdict was part of a growing tendency towards curbing freedom of expression.

"I see a trend in various countries where the authorities, social and religious groups and courts are taking a more restrictive stance on content considered to be offensive, morally questionable or dangerous for children," said Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE in Europe's Representative on Freedom of the Media.

"Most of the time it is a pretext for censoring content that is simply not mainstream and critical," Mijatovic said.
 

Leongsam

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They showed no respect for the leader of their country. For that, they deserve what they've got.

If anyone can simply behave in such a disrespectful and rowdy manner in public whenever they please, civil society and all it stands for would crumble. This has already happened in many parts of the liberal West.
 

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They showed no respect for the leader of their country. For that, they deserve what they've got.

If anyone can simply behave in such a disrespectful and rowdy manner in public whenever they please, civil society and all it stands for would crumble. This has already happened in many parts of the liberal West.


OK, what about FEMEN? what do you think they should get after this

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Activists of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen use a chainsaw to cut down an Orthodox cross, erected to the memory of victims of the political repression in Kiev on August 17, 2012 in support of Russian punk group Pussy Riot.
 

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An activist of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen reacts after cuting down an Orthodox cross, erected to the memory of victims of the political repression in Kiev on August 17, 2012 in support of Russian punk group Pussy Riot.
 

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Two Pussy Riot activists 'flee Russia'


Two activists of the Pussy Riot punk-rock group who are being sought by Russian police have fled the country, the band's Twitter account says.

Three members of the group were jailed this month for staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.

The pair who fled have not been named but the husband of one of the jailed women said the duo had taken part in the cathedral protest in February.

Many in the West condemned the Pussy Riot sentences as disproportionate.

However, the Kremlin has rejected accusations by musicians and some governments that the case was politically motivated.

Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" and jailed for two years.


The Twitter account called Pussy Riot Group said: "In regard to the pursuit, two of our members have successfully fled the country! They are recruiting foreign feminists to prepare new actions!"

Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, told Reuters news agency: "Since the Moscow police said they are searching for them, they will keep a low profile for now. They are in a safe place beyond the reach of the Russian police."
Yekaterina Samutsevich (L), Maria Alyokhina (C) and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (R) in court in Moscow (17 Aug 2012) The jailed trio are serving two-year sentences

He suggested that this meant a country that had no extradition arrangement with Russia.

Mr Verzilov told Reuters: "Twelve or even 14 members who are still in Russia actively participate in the band's work now, it's a big collective."

The jailed women are appealing against their sentences.

Following the verdict, Russian police said they were actively searching for other members of the group who had taken part in the cathedral protest.

But they gave no names and did not say how many were being sought.

The jailed women said their performance of a "punk prayer" on 21 February in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral had been to highlight the Russian Orthodox Church leader's support for Mr Putin.

Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out", enraged the Orthodox Church.
 

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Message: This message was found daubed on a wall - thought to be using the blood of the victims - above the bodies of two women

Russian mother and daughter found murdered with 'Free Pussy Riot' punk band slogan written in BLOOD above their bodies

Murder detectives in Russia have discovered the bodies of two women found underneath a 'Free Pussy Riot' slogan thought to have daubed in their blood on a wall.

The message backing the recently-jailed Russian female punk band was found on an apartment wall above the bodies of a woman, 76, and her 38-year-old daughter in Kazan, western Russia.

The two women, who are said to have shared a home in the city, are thought to have died from stab wounds between August 24 and 26.

An investigative committee in Tatarstan said their bodies were discovered on Wednesday.

The murder probe comes a fortnight after female punk band members Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were jailed for two years for a protest against Vladimir Putin. The trio were found guilty of hooliganism after performing a song critical of the Russian President in one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most important cathedrals.

An investigator cautioned that the killer was possibly trying to mislead police by drawing attention to supporters of the punk protesters.

It did not provide the women’s names and did not reveal details about their occupations or whether they had any connection to the band. Russian tabloid Lifenews quoted an unnamed investigator as saying that the bodies were disfigured by multiple stab wounds.The jailed band members’ attorney said on Twitter that 'what happened in Kazan is horrible,' calling the case 'either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic' case.

'I am sorry that some freaks are using Pussy Riot’s band name,' Nikolai Polozov was further quoted by Interfax as saying.

In mid-August, a Moscow court sentenced three band members to two years in jail for performing a 'punk prayer' against President Vladimir Putin at a Moscow cathedral in February.

The case has polarised Russians. Kremlin-friendly television networks and media covered the 'prayer' in mostly negative terms, and the country’s dominant Orthodox Church called their stunt sacrilegious. But, hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions urging authorities to free the band members.

An investigator in Kazan told a Russian news agency that the murderer was trying to cover up the crime by attributing the murder to the band’s supporters.

The criminal 'was trying to avoid suspicion' by misleading police, Andrey Sheptitsky told RBK Daily.

Kristina Potupchik, a pro-Putin blogger and former spokeswoman for a militant youth group known for its violent pranks against opposition and Kremlin critics, said in a post that the band's supporters 'will not get away' after the killing. She also compared them to U.S. mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses.
The leader of an Orthodox youth group that has accosted and assaulted Pussy Riot supporters claimed that they are capable of committing "any" crime.

'The infernal force that drives them hates God, believers and humankind in general," Dmitry Tsorionov told Interfax on Thursday. "These people are capable of committing any crime, and nothing but force and law can stop them.'

The country's dominant Orthodox Church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions urging authorities to free them.

Several wooden crosses that stood outside Orthodox churches in Russia and neighbouring Ukraine have been toppled by people who claimed to be the band’s supporters. The band’s manager and husband of one of the jailed rockers said the band disapproved of the vandalism.

The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an international furore. Celebrities such as Paul McCartney and Peter Gabriel urged Russian authorities to free the band.

A poll released today by the state-run VTsIOM polling agency showed that one third of Russians consider the two-year jail sentence too harsh, while another 31% found it appropriate.
 

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Femen Stages a 'Topless Jihad'

Earlier today, members of Ukrainian feminist group Femen staged protests across Europe as they called for a "topless jihad." The demonstrations were in support of a young Tunisian activist named Amina Tyler. Last month, Tyler posted naked images of herself online, with the words "I own my body; it's not the source of anyone's honor" written on her bare chest. The head of Tunisia's "Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," reportedly called for Tyler to be stoned to death for her putatively obscene actions, lest they lead to an epidemic. Tyler has since gone quiet, leading some to fear for her safety. Below are images from Femen's protests today in Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Belgium, and France. A warning, nearly every photo depicts nudity, and most contain offensive language.

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Activists of the women's rights movement Femen face riot policemen during a topless protest near Tunisia's Embassy in Paris, on April 4, 2013. Femen called for a day of international "topless jihad" on April 4 with Femen groups staging protests in various European cities in support of Amina, a young Tunisian woman who caused a scandal when she published photos of herself bare-chested on the internet in March.

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Activists of the women's movement Femen remove their jackets as they arrive to demonstrate topless in front of the Great Mosque of Brussels, Belgium, on April 4, 2013
 

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Activists from women's rights group Femen shout slogans during a protest supporting the rights of Arab women, including the Tunisian activist Amina, at the entrance of the Brussels Mosque, on April 4, 2013.

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Activists from Femen take part in a protest in front of the Consulate General of the Tunisian Republic in Milan, Italy, on April 4, 2013.

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Femen activists protest in front of the Tunisian Consulate in Milan, on April 4, 2013.

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Activists of Femen take part in a topless protest outside the Tunisian consulate in Milan, on April 4, 2013.
 

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A Femen activist shouts during a topless protest outside the Tunisian consulate in Milan, on April 4, 2013.

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Policemen arrest a Femen activist during a topless protest at a mosque in Kiev, Ukraine, on April 4, 2013.

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An activist of the Communist Youth Organization alongside women's right movement Femen gestures as she protests topless outside the Tunisian embassy in Stockholm, on April 4, 2013.
 
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