Russian punk group Pussy Riot in Moscow court hearing

by pat c Mon Jul 23, 2012 13:25

Moscow's Khamovnichesky Court has scheduled the hearing for the ‘Pussy Riot’ punk group case for July 30. Judge Marina Syrova said on Monday that the hearing will be open to the public, RIA Novosti reports. Member of the all-women group have been held in custody since March. The women have been accused of staging a guerilla performance in the Russian Orthodox Church’s main cathedral in Moscow. The court on Friday ruled to extend the current term of detention for the accused until January 12, 2013.

The Pussy Riot members have again been remanded in prison. This makes it all the more important to lobby on their behalf.

President Putin does have a sense of humour and is unlikely to be upset at being lampooned in a punk song. Whats more worrying here is the Orthodox Church saying that the event should be treated more seriously because it took place inside a church. Normally this sort of incident would attract a maximum six month sentence (they have already spent 5 months on remand).

Freedom of expression should be defended and more importantly the Orthodox Church should not be above criticism.

Please go to the following link and send a (polite) message to President Putin asking him to intervene in this case to secure the release of the women and to pardon them if they are convicted.

http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/

by pat c Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:37

On the opening day of the Pussy Riot trial Stephen Fry called to action his 4 million plus twitter followers to put pressure on President Putin on behalf of the detained members of Pussy Riot. As well Peter Gabriel, has written a letter to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich whose trial started on Monday. They are facing up to 7 years in prison.

"Nadya, Katya, Masha. You have the right to make your own prayers – from the heart. I hope you will be released very, very soon. We are all watching," Gabriel wrote.

Other recent support for Pussy Riot by other popular bands and musicians included:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Sting, Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, Alice Bag, Le Tigre, Faith No More, Anti-Flag, Plastic People of the Universe, Nina Hagen, Billy Bragg and many more

Finnish jazz performer Iiro Rantala cancelled his Moscow concert for 6 December to protest of the unfair treatment of the members of Pussy Riot.

President Putin does have a sense of humour and is unlikely to be upset at being lampooned in a punk song. Whats more worrying here is the Orthodox Church saying that the event should be treated more seriously because it took place inside a church. Normally this sort of incident would attract a maximum six month sentence (they have already spent 5 months on remand).

Freedom of expression should be defended and more importantly the Orthodox Church should not be above criticism.

Please go to the following link and send a (polite) message to President Putin asking him to intervene in this case to secure the release of the women and to pardon them if they are convicted.

http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/

by pat c Tue Jul 31, 2012 20:44

This report is from RT.COM, The Russian State broadcasting company.

Pussy Riot’s lawyers accuse the trial's judge of “torturing” the three defendants, who they say have barely had any sleep or food since Monday. As the trial resumes, prosecution witnesses claim severe moral wounds and reluctance to forgive the girls.

The hot July day in a Moscow court started with a short but desperate fight among journalists as the proceedings over the three members of punk band Pussy Riot were relocated to a much smaller room than the one used Monday. Only ten places in the room were left for reporters; the most persistent ones continued their reports via Twitter, since pictures and videography were banned.

The session kicked off with the defense almost immediately attempting to file a motion to change the judge. The court shrugged the request off, as it had “ruled on a similar motion on Monday evening.” Still, three hours later, the defense succeeded.

The core reason behind the motion, Pussy Riot’s lawyers said, was that their clients were being subjected to “torture” because of the way the court proceeding were organized.

The lawyers maintained that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich went to bed late after the previous day's trial ended at ten in the evening, and were woken up early and hadn’t been fed since. Correspondents tweeting from the courtroom said that by the end of the day, the girls were literally falling asleep in their tiny bullet proof booth.

The motion failed with the judge, who added that there would be breaks for lunch and the opportunity to have a nap during the trial.

The session wrapped up with an unexpected dispute over whether prosecutors had made mistakes with the evidence. One of the books used in the case proved to be 100 pages longer than it was expected to be.

Moreover, the prosecution witnesses’ evidence was suspected of being copy-and-pasted from one and the same document. The defense pointed to paragraphs copied word for word – with same spelling mistakes.

But the judge said the books often get recompiled and, as for the evidence, if the witnesses do not mind this, then this is not a case for an appeal. Witnesses did not mind.

Still the defense is going to lodge a complaint.

The trial will resume on Wednesday, with interviews of the witnesses for the defense, who include the father of Ekaterina Samutsevich.

Members of the Pussy Riot punk band (from left in the background) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich during the hearings on the merits on their case in Moscow's Hamovniki Court (RIA Novosti/Andrey Stenin)

by pat c Fri Aug 03, 2012 00:40

President Putin has spoken. Hopefully the so far biased judge is listening. If not, then Putin should be lobbied to pardon the Pussy Riot members.

There is nothing good in what the Pussy Riot girls did, but they should not be judged “too harshly” regardless, said Russian President Vladimir Putin commenting on the controversial case.

“I hope they will draw conclusions themselves. But the final decision has to be made by the court,” Putin added, speaking at a press conference before his departure from London.

The president also expressed hope that the court would reach “the right and reasonable verdict.”

The hearings of the controversial Pussy Riot case enter the fifth day on Friday. Three members of the punk band – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich – are charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility, and face up to seven years in prison after a masked guerrilla performance on the altar of Russia’s main cathedral in February.

by pat c Tue Aug 07, 2012 14:18

Blasphemy, not public order offences, thats what the prosecutor is honing in on. It shows the increasing power of the Orthodox Church in Russia. Full text at link.

The prosecution has demanded Russian punk band Pussy Riot be given three years in a minimum security prison for their “punk prayer” inside Moscow’s main cathedral. "Blasphemy is the gravest ethical crime. This is a provocation aimed at besmirching the clerical doctrine," said the prosecutor adding this proved the Pussy Riot's actions had been driven by religious hatred and could be classified as "malicious hooliganism".

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich are accused of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for their concert on February 21. The three women maintain their “punk prayer” was not driven by religious hatred and say they were making a political statement.

The prosecutor disputed these claims, saying that no politicians’ names were mentioned in the main body of the song. He stressed that Putin’s name was mentioned in the chorus merely to give the song some political spin. “The lyrics ‘Virgin Mary redeem us of Putin!’ broke from the context of the song. The President’s surname was only used to make the act appear politically motivated,” said the prosecutor.

President Putin has already shown that while he disapproves of the action, hes not too bothered by it and thinks the Pussy Riot members should not be dealt with harshly.

by Putin Tue Aug 07, 2012 17:39

Pussy Riot call Known Paid American Agents as Defence Witnesses

Pussy Riot's support campaign is spearheaded by Oksana Chelysheva of the US State Department-funded "Russian-Chechen Friendship Society," a clearing house for Chechen terrorist propaganda. Along with US State Department-subsidized Alexey Navalny and the West's media outlets on their side, the ostensibly anti-establishment "punk rockers" now on trial in Moscow seem to have a decidedly "establishment" backing

======

Who or What is Russia's "Pussy Riot? By Tony Cartalucci -
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/who-or-what....html

According to a Guardian article, titled, "Pussy Riot trial 'worse than Soviet era'" - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/03/pussy-riot-...ussia - the 'Pussy Riot' defense "tried to call 13 witness, including opposition leader Alexey Navalny."

Navalny, of course, is a longtime operative receiving both political and financial support from the West in efforts to undermine the Russian government and bring back the days of Wall Street and London's unhindered plundering that marked the 1990's.

Navalny was involved directly in founding a movement funded by the US government and to this day has the very people who funded DA! defending him throughout Western media. The mention of co-founder Mariya Gaydar is also revealing, as she has long collaborated, and occasionally has been arrested with, Ilya Yashin, yet another leader of a NED-funded Russian "activist" opposition group.

If "Pussy Riot's" defense is calling up a documented agent of Western interests as a "witness," one wonders under what context and to what degree Navalny, and by consequence, the National Endowment for Democracy (CIA/US State Dept.), is involved with the defendants.

Navalny admits that he is "acquainted" with one of the band members, (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/pussy-riot-w....html) but was not actually a "witness," and rather would have testified in order to "defend law and justice."

Clearly then, the defense's attempts to include him in the trial were politically motivated, having nothing to do with either law or justice, and serves simply as a means to link "Pussy Riot" to the US State Department's subversive opposition, many of whose leaders were caught filing into the US Embassy in Moscow earlier this year.

Also telling, is that Oksana Chelysheva is heading "Pussy Riot's" support campaign. heading "Pussy Riot's" support campaign.

Chelysheva is:

• a board member of the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum
• a steering committee member of the NED,
• a steering committee member of convicted criminal George Soros Open Society-funded FIDH,
• Open Society,
• Ford Foundation,
• Corrupt Irish Billionaire Denis O'Brien Trust-funded Front Line Defenders, - http://www.indymedia.ie/article/101677?search_text=fron...89171
• and US State Department-run Amnesty International-affiliated EU-Russia Civil Society Forum -

by pat c Tue Aug 07, 2012 18:07

A punk band protests in an Orthodox Cathedral about the links between politics and the church and the tin foil hat brigade see it as a CIA plot.

The reports on this thread are from RT.COM. The Russian State Broadcasting Company. They are making no such allegations.

by pat c Tue Aug 07, 2012 18:14

President Putin, in a statement made no allegations about Pussy Riot having ulterior motives or being paid by anyone.

There is nothing good in what the Pussy Riot girls did, but they should not be judged “too harshly” regardless, said Russian President Vladimir Putin commenting on the controversial case.

“I hope they will draw conclusions themselves. But the final decision has to be made by the court,” Putin added, speaking at a press conference before his departure from London.

The president also expressed hope that the court would reach “the right and reasonable verdict.”

http://rt.com/politics/putin-pussy-riot-trial-726/