So So Gay
UPDATED- The judge has just passed sentence on the three woman: Each band member receives two years imprisonment and begins this time from the day of their arrest.
Russian punk trio Pussy Riot have been convicted of hooliganism by a Moscow court. The band hit the headlines after they danced a can-can and shouted ‘Mother of God, drive out Putin!’ in one of Moscow’s biggest churches.
Earlier in February this year, the balaclava-wearing trio, which is comprised of band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, a philosophy graduate, Maria Alekhina, 24, a charity worker and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, a computer programming graduate were arrested after they stormed the capital’s main cathedral and performed a ‘punk prayer’ at the altar, which involved asking the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of the then prime minister Vladimir Putin.
At the time, Mr Putin was on the verge of winning a new term as President.
The three woman have now been found guilty of ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred’.
Judge Marina Syrova said the three band members had ‘carefully planned’ their actions inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, and she is expected to sentence them later today with the prosecution seeking three years of corrective labour.
The women, who have spent the past few months imprisoned and awaiting their trial, said their protest was intended to highlight the close ties between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church, and they had no intention of offending believers.
The punk trio in court this week.
In a handwritten letter from behind bars, band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova wrote, ’There is no personal malice, but there is a political one. Our term in prison is a clear and distinct sign that freedom is being taken away from the whole country. And that threatens destruction of the liberating, emancipating forces of Russia. That’s what makes me angry.’
Stars including Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney and Bjork have all called for the three woman to be released, with Madonna even stating her support at her recent concert. The singer performed ‘Like A Virgin’ wearing Pussy Riot’s trademark balaclava during her Moscow concert, and had scrawled the band’s name across her back.
Madonna also caused controversy during her show in St. Petersburg last Thursday, by telling her fans that homosexuals had the same rights as anyone else, and should be ‘treated with dignity and tolerance.’ A city councilor in St. Petersburg has accused Madonna of violating a controversial local law banning ‘homosexual propaganda’, and wants to take either her or the gig organisers to court.
Nikolai Alexeyev wants the 100 year Gay Pride ban overturned.
News has also emerged today that Moscow’s top court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian city for the next 100 years.
Nikolai Alexeyev, Russia’s most famous gay-rights campaigner had gone to court hoping to overturn the city council’s ban on gay parades, and also to address the law regarding ‘homosexual propaganda’.
It’s thought that Alexeyev will go back to the European Court in Strasbourg to push for a recognition that Moscow’s ban on gay pride marches in the future is completely unjust.
