Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist punk trio who've been on trial for singing an anti-Putin song in an Orthodox cathedral, have been sentenced to two years' hard labor in a penal colony. The band released a new single to coincide with the verdict, for which the Guardian has created an accompanying video, above. Below, an excerpt from Miriam Elder's coverage:

Pussy Riot's supporters and opposition activists accused Putin of personally orchestrating the case against them. "They are in jail because it is Putin's personal revenge," said Alexey Navalny, the opposition's de facto leader. "The verdict was written by Vladimir Putin."
The three women were arrested in March after performing an anti-Putin "punk prayer" inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The case against them is seen as serving two functions: a warning to other dissidents, and an appeal to Putin's conservative base. Russia's growing campaign against gay rights is seen as a part of that effort, and on Friday Moscow's main court upheld a 100-year ban on gay pride rallies.

Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in prison colony over anti-Putin protest

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I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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bzishi

Kasparov was also arrested during the sham sentencing hearing. He wrote that after he had been beaten by the police that they are investigating him for biting a police officer.

Another interesting aspect of the trial was the claim that the defendants suffered from a mixed personality disorder which causes a

“proactive approach to life,” “a drive for self-fulfillment,”
“stubbornly defending their opinion,” “inflated self-esteem,”
“inclination to opposition behavior,” and “propensity for protest
reactions.”

Amazing. I’m not a mental health expert, but I am pretty knowledgeable about personality disorders. I have never heard of those traits for a personality disorder (they sound like perfectly normal reactions to living under an autocrat). To me, it sounds like this is a return to the Soviet system’s use of psychiatry to lock up and abuse political prisoners. If Pussy Riot gets released from prison in 2 years, they could very well be locked up in a political psychiatric hospital afterwards.

Not that this is new. The Russians have been abusing psychiatry for political purposes for years.
- Petzl
  
  The Russians have been abusing psychiatry for political purposes for years.
  
  It’s just a continuation of Soviet policies …
- timquinn
  
  Not unlike how we use the idea of terrorist.
- Palomino
  
  Cory posted this in March of this year, makes sense to me…
  http://boingboing.net/2012/03/01/why-shrinks-diagnose-anti-auth.html
- Jonathan Roberts
  
  “proactive approach to life,” “a drive for self-fulfillment,”
  “stubbornly defending their opinion,” “inflated self-esteem,”
  “inclination to opposition behavior,” and “propensity for protest
  reactions.”
  
  Sounds like a good definition for the average BoingBoing reader.
- latelatelateshow
  
  They’re not Punk unless they sell t-shirts with their logo on them for toddlers
noah django

COT DAMN! that was punk!

cory, FYI, your embed is auto-playing, but that video was fucking bangin’, son!

anyhoo, can we get these young ladies OUT of the gulag and all these post-Blink-182 losers from so-cal INTO the gulag? do you think Putin would be down for a swap?
- yadayada
  
  How about we just do away with the fucking gulag? (But your humorous point is nonetheless appreciated.)
  Is Russia now once more officially a dictatorship?
  - Bradley Robinson
    
    Yes. Because of this singular event it’s now official. Good thing we were paying attention.
  - Wild Rumpus
    
    nope, Ogliarchy – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy
- Bradley Robinson
  
  Absolutely not. They’d wind up in California and turn into Wilson Phillips before we realized what was going on.
  
  Listen to hip hop instead. It’s good for a chuckle.
- Bradley Robinson
  
  P.S.
  
  Post Blink-182? I’ll assume you meant post-Black Flag and leave it at that.
  - noah django
    
    huh, well now that you mention it, I *am* having trouble coming up with a post-black flag so-cal punk band I wouldn’t want to see shipped off to the gulag. just named the stereotypical worst offender off the top of my head…
    
    also,
    >implying I don’t listen to hip hop more than punk since 1993
    - mysterymoil
      
      Would you send Bad Religion to the gulag?
      - noah django
        
        Bad Religion is not “post-Black Flag.” their first album was released in 81.
- Boundegar
  
  I thought so too, until I noticed that there’s no drummer. It looks like none of them play an instrument, or there might be one guitar, if it’s not a pantomime. So what, do they sing over a recorded backing track? Like Russian punk karaoke?
  
  Also, not clear if the band has three, four, or seven members.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y27XUSXK3ZVGFHKP5D3CXT7H2U Spam
    
    They apologize for not taking a time out to inform you of your complaints.
    - Boundegar
      
      Wait, what?
  - Stjohn
    
    Maybe they use a drum machine, like Sisters of Mercy. When asked why they credit a drum machine as Dr. Avalanche, Andy Eldritch supposedly said “[drum machines] don’t smoke all your cigarettes, steal all your girlfriends, and take up too much room in the van.”
  - https://launchpad.net/~zak-mckracken Zak McKracken
    
    what video are you referring to? In the “Church gig” it was all playback, or possibly no sound at all. Hard to imagine how they’d have gotten the drum kit in place anyway, as well as guitar amps and stuff… That was just the video to the song.
    Talking about which: It doesn’t seem they are very good at music, but it’s proper punk, so they don’t have to (no irony!). This also makes it much more likely that they did all of the music themselves. This also makes me wonder why authorities have such a problem. If the song had been really well done, eloquently worded and elegantly executed, they’d probably have raised a lot more eyebrows. This way the performance must look way over the top for most people so if noone’d made such a fuss about it they could have labeled them as a bunch of bad musicians desperate for attention and off you go.
    - millie fink
      
      Streisand Effect?
      - http://www.facebook.com/chris.clark.7946 Chris Clark
        
        Exactly! Someone should have explained the Streisand effect to Putin before all this got started. Now I think he’s screwed.
    - Boundegar
      
      You think the video was staged, before the arrest? That didn’t occur to me, but it would require some prescience. Or maybe not – maybe it’s not hard to predict protestors getting arrested in Putin’s Russia.
      
      As for musical talent, I once read that Sid Vicious had never held a bass guitar when he was recruited to the Pistols. Actual music lessons may be a net minus. ^_^
      - http://twitter.com/trempls tré
        
        Sid was almost always turned off or on incredibly low volume. The same is true of former Manic Street Preachers’ “guitarist,” Richey Edwards. However, the latter was IMO a wonderful poet and both were great figureheads for their bands. That’s important; anyone who sincerely says that “real music” has no visual/fashion/lifestyle aspects is kidding themselves. Rock n roll is 99% posturing.
      - ocker3
        
        I hold up for your consideration Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil. The band advertised for a lead singer, and while he wasn’t the most musically talented of the respondents, he sure had the most character
  - EH
    
    Exactly, Mr. Schrute: this band is completely invalid as currently depicted.
Jake0748

” Moscow’s main court upheld a 100-year ban on gay pride rallies.” Wait… What? So gay pride rallies have been banned for 100 years already in Russia? I didn’t think they’ve been having those for that long. Or is it that rallies have been banned for the NEXT 100 years? If so, why did they put an arbitrary time limit on it? So, gay pride will be OK in 2112? I don’t get it.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/4BJMWIZDHNZOW7UAX7Z6H5UKKI Russell
  
  That’s when the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx will deem it acceptable once more.
  - ImmutableMichael
    
    Whoa…. Now that takes me back.
    - http://profile.yahoo.com/4BJMWIZDHNZOW7UAX7Z6H5UKKI Russell
      
      My work here is done.
- timquinn
  
  No, it means it has been illegal to be happy at all in Russia for over a hundred years.
- http://twitter.com/Ohyran Jens Reuterberg
  
  Well it WAS legal just after the revolution in those trippy wierd years between the revolution and Stalin (Alexandra Kollontaj (left communist and leader of the workers opposition) and managed to get Lenin to legalize same sex relations. But when he died Stalin criminalized it again)…
  - Wreckrob8
    
    Did they actively legalise same sex relations? I thought the old imperial tsarist legal code was abolished leaving a legal vacuum until Stalin recriminalised homosexuality in the thirties. The Soviets could find justification for either position in Communist traditions. Marx wasn’t exactly pro-gay.
- http://twitter.com/BonzoDog1 BonzoDog1
  
  That law was passed after all those gay sailors revolted on the Battleship Potemkin.
  - Wreckrob8
    
    But socialist realism is obviously gay. Boy loves tractor. Forbidden love.
    - Mantissa128
      
      You know, only just now have I realized that your avatar is a person giving the finger, and not a small sitting bulldog with a grumpy face.
      
      Carry on.
      - Wreckrob8
        
        It’s a ‘gabber’ with the obligatory shaven head. Grumpy bulldog isn’t an enticing prospect for an ageing Brit!
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      In China, it’s ‘girl loves ear of corn’. Big, nubbly ear of corn.
      - ocker3
        
        Is there an accompanying description of a man such as “corn muncher”?
MollyMaguire

So, they didn’t hurt anyone or damage any property? Damn. Welcome to 1984 ladies.
And yeah, that’s great punk, gonna go look for more….
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

Whoa, they broke into my speakers like it was a church
-_-

“let the autoplay version sit on the front page until we get enough complaints to take it down. I don’t want people surfing past this because they think it doesn’t involve them or isn’t important”

That’s the conversation I imagine occurred.

Well played sirs, an autoplay on the front page of BoingBoing should go a LONG way toward raising awareness and activity.

Nice music too :)
Ev K

Maybe they should go into grocery stores and shove raw chickens into their vaginas, or sexually assault female police officers.

Oh wait they’ve done both. Speaking as a female atheist feminist, I detest these women.

Sources, since people were asking:

Here’s two links of the girl shoving a chicken into her vag:
http://www.youhavetocit.com/2012/07/group-pussy-riot-stilling-chicken-from.html
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aea_1343072683

Here they are forcing themselves on female police officers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0A8Qf893cs

Voina and Pussy Riot were the same group that split up later.

And an orgy in a Biology Museum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IynaB_5iE8&t=4m0s

Also, of course since I hate these women I must therefore support everything Putin and the Russian Catholic church has ever done. Well done boingboing commenters, well done.
These women are despicable, and I don’t want to be associated with them.
- Bobsyeruncle
  
  You really should hate Putin more. :)
  - Petzl
    
    I think she’s a female atheist feminist traitor.
    - Wild Rumpus
      
      what’s wrong with shoving raw chickens into your vagina. I don’t have a vagina – did I miss something here?
      - Bobsyeruncle
        
        I think the chicken was shoplifted, or pussy-lifted, from a supermarket. I don’t think that was part of the judgement. Nor was assaulting a female police officer. That doesn’t even sound quite right to me. Was it anything like Garry Kasparov’s “assault” on the police officer who was beating him?
        
        I found the following NSFW video link: http://www.youhavetocit.com/2012/07/group-pussy-riot-stilling-chicken-from.html. One of the commenters thinks it was the art-group Voina from St. Petersburg abusing a frozen chicken, and not Pussy Riot at all.
        
        Again, I think Putin should be getting more hate. :)
      - KBert
        
        There’s other junk in the meat area… Why a chicken?
        What am _I_ missing? Other than a vagina.
- BarBarSeven
  
  Fair enough. But do you think they should be sent to a labor camp for TWO YEARS because of this? That is past excessive.
  
  Russian labor camps are far worse than U.S. prisons. If they did this in the U.S. maybe they would have been arrested, but if they were locked up it would be for a few days in “holding” at most. But if you don’t understand that, how about mulling on this: Why is a government that has an iron grip on it’s people see 7 female artists as a “threat” so grand they need to be locked up for TWO YEARS! And for perspective, the direct “victims” of this “hooliganism” think the following:
  
  Russia’s Orthodox Church said the protest was a “blasphemy” but also appealed for clemency for the women.
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19302986
  - Petzl
    
    The most you’d get in the US is criminal tresspass, disorder conduct, plead down to less than a week in the county jail and probably just community service, since what they did was explicitly political and expressly not intended to vandalize or damage the church they did this in.
    
    But Putin gave them 2 years of prison. Hard labor. Like a boss.
    
    What’s unspoken here is the Church’s hand in all this. They are complicit in giving 2 year’s hard labor to youthful hippies for, essentially, being youthful hippies. If the Church really lived its hypocritical “turn the other cheek” bylaw, they would’ve shown grace and appealed to Putin not to deal with Pussy Riot severely. Instead, they hold their peace, rub their hands, and gloat in the punishment.
    - CLamb
      
      The Russian Orthodox Church did appeal for clemency. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/russian-orthodox-clerics-say-they-have-forgiven-the-anti-putin-feminist-rockers/2012/08/18/dc639c7a-e92c-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        After crying for their blood. Just a PR move.
- noah django
  
  well, they’re off to the gulag, so all’s well in your world it would seem. you and Putin can drink a toast now. your enemy’s enemy is your friend!
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Conky-Lives/100002184324234 Conky Lives
  
  Cite your sources please. Preferably with photos.
- territorial
  
  Well I hope you enjoy your “female atheist feminist” moral high ground – although it might be lonely up there I’m sure it’s a damned sight more comfortable than living under Putin’s dictatorship. Maybe you could learn a bit of empathy while you’re up there.
- Rindan
  
  Worst-female-atheist-feminist-ever.
- https://launchpad.net/~zak-mckracken Zak McKracken
  
  You don’t have to like them. They weren’t sentenced for doing ugly things, nor for assaulting anyone (supposed they actually did that), but for filming a music video in a church.
  Of course they did that, too, in order to get attention, but the fact remains that they are now being punished for voicing their opinion, nothing else.
  If anyone had walked into that church and “just” misbehaved, with no politics involved, things would have gone quite differently.
  - Ev K
    
    Except tons and tons of people have voiced their opinion without getting arrested. How about that badass that sewed his lips shut? I don’t see him in jail, and he got a ton of press against Putin. Why? Because it’s not something like an orgy in a biology museum, which they’ve also done.
    
    I’m not going to support a group whose broken into a church simply because they’re females. They’re vile, and it’s embarrassing that the sites I frequent have such a boner for them.
    - Bobsyeruncle
      
      Pussy Riot isn’t Voina. Some of the members have apparently participated in Voina activities, but they aren’t ALL guilty of everything Voina has done. What’s really embarrassing is how badly you’re skewing the events and supporting the excessively punitive actions of the government.
      - Ev K
        
        Way to go, automatically assuming that since I don’t support Pussy Riot I must therefore support the Russian government and the church. Voina and Pussy Riot were originally one group. They’ve the same mentality and the same tactics.
        
        Edit: Did I say that those stunts were part of the judgement? No. All I’m saying is that I think they’re despicable.
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        Okay, you’ve said the same thing four times now. Stop, please.
      - Bobsyeruncle
        
        You keep trashing Pussy Riot for stunts they have not ALL participated in. It’s disingenuous to take a couple of members and a couple of unrelated events, lump everyone in the same group and blame everything on Pussy Riot. Those stunts were certainly not part of the judgement that landed them 2 years of hard labor. You don’t even have to like the group nor do they have to be completely innocent to understand everything that was wrong about the whole situation.
      - wysinwyg
        
        Way to go, automatically assuming that since I don’t support Pussy Riot I must therefore support the Russian government and the church.
        
        Well, you have “the same mentality and the same tactics”. Can you blame him?
- Ipo
  
  Where’s the video where they shove frozen chicken up Putin’s vagina?
- noah django
  
  all those links are awesome, thanks!
  
  >”These women are despicable, and I don’t want to be associated with them”
  yeah, and you wouldn’t have been, if you hadn’t CREATED YOUR ACCOUNT just to tell us how you don’t want to be associated with them. keep hating.
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxxPLDZnqwA
  - Ev K
    
    Keep acting like it’s not clear that
    I very, very obviously meant that I don’t want to be associated with them through feminism. I’m a regular viewer of boingboing and simply logged on with a gmail account. When feminists do something outrageous, people always say, “where are the feminists denouncing them?”, well here I am.
    Once one actually learns something about them besides the church incident, anyone who’s doesn’t respect them less is illogically prefers them.There’s a reason most Russians don’t like Pussy Riot: they know more about them than a single incident.
    - http://profile.yahoo.com/OMHO6ER5QJE3SIZ35VAXIRCLYM Stephan
      
      “as a female atheist feminist”
      
      As a male atheist feminist i could not care less about what you think about these women.
http://profile.yahoo.com/4BJMWIZDHNZOW7UAX7Z6H5UKKI Russell

I’d have jailed them for crimes against music.
- wysinwyg
  
  Fuck music snobbery. (No, I haven’t even listened to the Pussy Riot song yet. Don’t care. Fuck this attitude.)
http://profile.yahoo.com/4BJMWIZDHNZOW7UAX7Z6H5UKKI Russell

They would have been gunned down by people exercising their democratic right to…ermmm…gun Communists down.
coiled embrace

I bet you also wonder what you’d do if you were a Mississippi cop…
Petzl

This is what happens in countries without First Amendment protections when you criticize the established religion. Watch for Pat Robertson to praise Vladimir Putin’s “boldness” in the face of creeping, disrespectful secularism.
- invictus
  
  “Countries without First Amendment protections”
  
  How USian of you.
  - Rindan
    
    Don’t be so pedantic. It is a safe assumption that most of the readership of BoingBoing knows what the “first amendment” refers to in this case, if not the exact wording. It is a good piece of law that has held back far more than its fair share of horrors and is well worth appreciating.
    
    Also, USian isn’t a word.
    
    North American = Someone from North America
    South American = Someone from South America
    Americas = All of the above.
    American = Someone from the only sovereign country in the world with “America” in its name.
    USian = Unpronounceable nonsense that only people with a stick up their ass use.
    - Mantissa128
      
      Don’t be so pedantic.
      
      o_O
    - https://launchpad.net/~zak-mckracken Zak McKracken
      
      Don’t be so pedantic.
      I like “USian”
      I usually say “US American”, but the short form is funnier.
    - lafave
      
      In language, a word is the smallest element that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content (with literal or practical meaning). This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own. A word may consist of a single morpheme (for example: oh!, rock, red, quick, run, expect), or several (rocks, redness, quickly, running, unexpected), whereas a morpheme may not be able to stand on its own as a word (in the words just mentioned, these are -s, -ness, -ly, -ing, un-, -ed).
      
      Strictly speaking, USian, is a word. It’s just a word you don’t particularly care for.
      
      “Don’t be so pedantic” – hilarious.
      - Wreckrob8
        
        Yoo-zhun? Yoo-essy-an?
      - http://mightybob.com thatbob
        
        USian is not only frivolous, but ambivalent, since it could refer to somebody from the United States of Mexico. To disambiguate, use “Mexican” and “American” when referring to citizens of those countries.
      - lafave
        
        @boingboing-7a4a467e968ac32c4f328e6fb2d211f6:disqus
        
        American == North American:
        can refer to a citizen of 3 possible countries (and some islands)
        
        and it isn’t the United States of Mexico, it’s the “United Mexican States”
        
        ETA: and do you really think being repetitive or frivolous disqualifies a word from being a word?
      - http://twitter.com/beep54orama B E Pratt
        
        Replying to lafave. The reply button got lost.
        Actually, I rather imagine that Mexicans would prefer the name Estados Unidos Mexicanos.
        And yes, I am pretty sure I am being pedantic here (always thought that word was ‘pendantic’, sumpin new ever day)
    - Shinkuhadoken
      
      American = Someone from the only sovereign country in the world with “America” in its name.
      
      “American” also refers to anyone or anything that comes from North or South America (it’s in the dictionary!). Referring to North or South is optional. It’s not my fault the U.S. chose a word to refer to themselves which also refers to the contents and inhabitants of our two continents. A Canadian or a Mayan temple is as much American as a Brit or the Hague is European.
    - invictus
      
      Ooh, I missed out on a lot of fun here!
      
      First of all, thank you for informing me that “USian” isn’t a word. I shall make sure to secure your pre-approval on my vocabulary choices from this point on.
      
      Second, it’s nice that you think pointing out that the rest of the world has freedom of speech that *isn’t* originating from the US constitutional amendments is pedantic. But then I’ll bet you
      
      a) are a USian
      b) have never had anyone explain to you that they don’t like Canada because we don’t have these amendments and thus don’t have these vital freedoms.
      
      Apparently “freedom of speech” is too vague and too long a term for both Petzl and yourself. Or — as wysinwyg seems to demonstrate below — there are people ignorant enough of history to believe that the US constitutional amendments are the One True Origin of said freedom.
  - wysinwyg
    
    Well, if you don’t WANT freedom of speech, press, religion, and public assembly I guess we poor, benighted, freedom-hating USians can’t force you to have them.
    - invictus
      
      Well, you’re certainly benighted if you believe all of these freedoms are somehow unique to, or the invention of, the US.
Bradley Robinson

At least it’s not a penile colony.
- bcsizemo
  
  I thought that’s what Siberia was?
  - lafave
    
    yeah – it is a bit of a sausage fest
bzishi

They would be charged with a disorderly conduct violation. They would probably do 1 day in jail and pay a small fine. Community service might also be an option. It is also possible that they would simply be released and ordered to pay the fine with no jail time at all if they immediately bailed out.

This wouldn’t create a criminal record for them (disorderly conduct is typically just a violation) unless they had several disorderly conduct violations and reached the repeated offender threshold.

Edit: I looked up the laws. Mississippi is a little more harsh that the rest of the country and has a slightly more harsh disturbance of place of worship law.

97-35-17. Disturbance of worship; proceedings and penalty.

If any person shall wilfully disturb any congregation of persons lawfully assembled for religious worship, he may be immediately arrested by any officer or private person, without warrant, and taken before any justice court judge of the county, present or convenient, and on conviction thereof by such justice, municipal, county or circuit court, shall be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned not more than six (6) months, or both.

97-35-3. Disorderly conduct; certain acts performed with intent to provoke breach of peace; penalties.

{cut out a lot of text}shall be guilty of disorderly conduct, which is made a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than four (4) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Still, Pussy Riot would likely be charged with disorderly conduct since they didn’t disturb an assembled congregation. In any case the 6 month or 4 month penalties are extremes. Disorderly conduct is almost always 1 day or less of jail. A 6 month max would probably be a week or less.

Similar disturbances happened in New York during the AIDS protests of the Catholic Church and all that the protesters got was disorderly conduct violations. In the New York protests, masses were interrupted and consecrated hosts were desecrated.
Cory Doctorow

Sorry about the autoplay. I’m in a remote town outside of St Petersburg, Russia (ironically) with very thin and intermittent connectivity… It wasn’t autoplaying for me (but then, my connectivity is so poor that it was probably timing out). I believe I’ve fixed it now.
- http://twitter.com/bazimmerman Brad Zimmerman
  
  Bold. I think you’ll only get a year in prison for that.
- Tribune
  
  Are you trying to organize a parade?
- trackofalljades
  
  Thanks! :)
http://twitter.com/Stevoreno123 Stevo

Its just plain hate and fear. Nobody, no country, no religion is immune. Religion is just people coming together for a purpose. Why are people amazed when they act in hurtful ways? It proves nothing except that its in OUR nature to act that way. Quit feeling vindicated by the actions of others.
- Bradley Robinson
  
  Incorrect. It is our nurture. Not our nature.
  - http://twitter.com/Stevoreno123 Stevo
    
    Sadly, yes.
http://www.facebook.com/wranell Mikael Wranell

Watch and spread this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqyX95QLqi8&feature=BFa&list=HL1345235515

Playwright, dramaturge and director Van Badham giving an amazing speech in support of Pussy Riot, at a flashdemo immediately after their sentencing, at Mynttorget, Stockholm, 17 aug 2012. She is speaking on behalf of the Women Playwright International Conference (WPIC) . Special thanks to Olga Lännevall, event organizer
http://freepussyriot.org/
Van Badham
http://www.vanbadham.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Badham
Women Playwright International Conference
http://www.facebook.com/WPIC2012
Women Playwright International
http://www.wpinternational.net/
http://www.facebook.com/wranell Mikael Wranell

And of course, if you haven’t read them, here are Marias, Yekaterinas and Nadezdhas closing statements:
http://nplusonemag.com/pussy-riot-closing-statements
C.J. Casey

Путин боится маленьких девочек.
Mister44

Putin should swoop in and pardon the girls. He proved his point he can lock up whomever he wants, and now he can play the benevolent overlord. He should do it shirtless while riding a tiger.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Putin is somewhat past the point of being concerned with PR.
  - Mister44
    
    Yeah – but it would be an excuse to ride a tiger shirtless. You know he’s been itching for a reason to do that.
    - http://tortoise-brand-pot-scrubbing-cleaner.myopenid.com/ Mister
      
      Yeah, now that I think about it, Putin is a bit like a malevolent real-life version of the Old Spice guy, so you’re probably right.
      
      http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/09/a-gallery-of-all-the-crazy-stuff-vladimir-putin-does/
      - bcsizemo
        
        I wonder how hard it is to be a biker and need to use a walker or cane…(just noticed the two guys in the background of that picture.)
    - SomeGuyNamedMark
      
      He can show up in his judo uniform and wrestle the guards to the ground.
- http://www.facebook.com/felipe.esquivel Felipe Esquivel Reed
  
  Actually Putin and the Orthodox Church were asking for mercy:
  http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2012/08/17/la-condamnation-des-pussy-riot-digne-de-l-inquisition_1747276_3214.html
Wild Rumpus

Most awesome thing to happen in Punk Rock since 1977. Never Mind The Putin, Here’s the Pussy Riot.

I feel bad that we’re not going to hear much from them for a couple of years, but when they come back, they are going to have all the street cred they need to do a world tour.

Punks Not Dead.
- Wild Rumpus
  
  Punks Not Dead… just selling butter…
  
  http://youtu.be/7mSE-Iy_tFY
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  It’s not dead, but it has a bus pass.
Wild Rumpus

Good question. Would someone please try it and get back to us?
Antinous / Moderator

Moderator note: This is about something happening in Russia. To Russian people. Please stay on topic.
- timquinn
  
  wow, glad I kept a copy.
- twianto
  
  Yes, may god save us from people who recontextualize spaces. Like those girls, they should have stuck to praying and praising Putin in that church. The irony, it burns.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Three Russian women are being sent to a prison camp and everybody wants to hijack the thread to grind their axes about the United States.
    
    Self-centered, provincial, narcissistic solipsism much?
    - timquinn
      
      Honestly thought it was a good moment to reflect on how this is handled here. The remark about BoingBoing was totally wrong and I do apologize for that.
http://twitter.com/smknghrtdesigns SmokingHeartDesigns

The thing to do is make counterfeit Pussy Riot songs and release them during their stay in prison.
- SomeGuyNamedMark
  
  I just look forward to the headline “Pussy Riot in Penal Colony”
  - http://twitter.com/smknghrtdesigns SmokingHeartDesigns
    
    Or a cover of “30 Days in the Hole.”
http://profiles.google.com/eliotfur Илья Найдов

Request air strike: 55.752574 N, 37.618164 E and 55.744615 N, 37.605591 E
psychedelicdonut

I wonder if the target of the ban of gay pride parades are gay people or paraders (public demonstrations that don’t fall under the pro-Putin category), or, of course both.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y27XUSXK3ZVGFHKP5D3CXT7H2U Spam

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and the hour of our deaths.
Jesus was a rebel, in case you were not aware.
The 3 most major nations go retrograde at about the same time. The problem arises that as they gain mass they are more likely to clink into each other and the sparks ignite a major conflagration.
Apparently free market and freedom do not enjoy the same space. Enslavement to the work place in the name of freedom to choose lipstick colors is the future.
Guido

This deserves world wide protests in Russian Orthodox churches. Your religious feelings were hurt? Fine. My sense of decency and fairness is hurt by your scumbag patriarch.
http://fallsastar.com Crashproof

People should realize Pussy Riot is kind of like Anonymous.

The band hasn’t been jailed, just three of their members have.
http://profiles.google.com/eliotfur Илья Найдов

As a counter-example: around the same time as Pussy Riot were in court, some Neo-nazis have drawn swastikas on some mosque… They didn’t get any press coverage at all, but they are still going to get 3-5 years in jail even though no politics were involved in the act…
- EvilSpirit
  
  I don’t see how anything involving the swastika can be apolitical. Particularly in Russia, though perhaps you know more about that than I do. Still, I had the impression that Russia had no sense of humor at all about nazis.
Simon Péter

Is it just me, or that whole Pussy Riot story sounds like something right out of a Doctorow novel? (only without video game references).
StCredZero

When their story becomes a movie, have Scarlett Johansen play the one on the left!
- http://mightybob.com thatbob
  
  RTFA – they’re *ALL* on the left! <-heh
http://twitter.com/AwesomeRobot AwesomeRobot

I’m afraid the last we may hear of these girls will be death during a prison riot a year or so from now.
Teller

Bet $10 Putin ‘magnanimously’ pardons PR in a bit (weeks, maybe month). Not because of pressure from Paul McCartney or the blogosphere – just because he’s…that kinda guy.
http://twitter.com/steeveeWonder1 steeveeWonder

**HONESTLY – IF ONE COMBINES EVERYTHING THEY’VE DONE IN RUSSIA AND APPLY INTO US CRIMINAL SYSTEM – THEY’D BE LOCKED UP FOREVER.**

1) Pussy Riot gig at Christ the Savior Cathedral (original video)
http://www.youtube.COM/watch?v=grEBLskpDWQ

2) Pussy riot gig (public) at the biology museum:
http://plucer.livejournal.COM/55710.html

3) Pussy riot stunt in the grocery store (yep – there were children present there)
http://kotkin-egor.livejournal.COM/655499.html
http://liveleak.COM/view?i=aea_1343072683

4) HIJACKING PUBLIC TRANSPORT, STALLING TRAFFIC, VANDALISM IN MOSCOW SUBWAY:
http://lj.rossia.ORG/users/wisegizmo/
http://newstreetuniver.livejournal.COM/184184.html
*PLZ note – all these unauthorized. they were simply hijacking someones buildings and transport!*

5) INTRUSION OF PRIVATE JAIL PROPERTY (BASICALLY – BROKE INSIDE OF A JAIL):
http://pussy-riot.livejournal.COM/5763.html

6) PUSSY RIOT – sexual assault, interference with the duties of a police officer, and creating a public disturbance.
http://www.youtube.COM/watch?v=l0A8Qf893cs

7) PUSSY RIOT – another weird unauthorized red square performance.
http://ma-zaika.RU/post202301280

8) throwing urine onto police officers. (couldn’t find a video of that one)
- EeyoreX
  
  “HONESTLY – IF ONE COMBINES EVERYTHING THEY’VE DONE IN RUSSIA …”
  I find it most interesting that Putin apologists on the internet seem to have chosen this as their main argument; the notion that even if these girls are completely innocent of the crime they’ve been charged with, even within Russian law, then they still deserve their punishment, because of some other things wich they have NOT been charged with.
  
  It is interesting because it tells us something important about how these people think about justice, about legal certainty, about due process, stuff like that.
  In a sense, it shows us exactly why Putin and his followers like “steeveeWonder” need to be protested against.
- BarBarSeven
  
  The reality is here in the U.S.—and the rest of the western world—a lot of “flash mob” events would be considered “illegal” under the Russian rule of law. That does not mean it’s right that someone would consider that “illegal.”
  
  It simply comes down to what I & others have said previously: Do you genuinely thing someone should be sent to a LABOR CAMP for 2 years for what they did? Seriously, they should have just been fined at worst. Past that any discussion is asinine. THEY SHOULD NOT BE SENT INTO A LABOR CAMP FOR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION!
dolo54

That song kicks all kids of ass.
Scratcheee

Come on people!

Pussy Riot?! Penal colony?!

Do I have to do all the heavy lifting around here?
- benher
  
  For once, I was so appalled by a breach of human rights so egregious that I actually forgot to pick all the low hanging fruit! Thanks for the assist! ;)
http://twitter.com/AntonBodryy Anton

Russia blog http://mymusicmy.ru/novosti/fanaty-vosprinyali-poyavlenie-pussy-riot-neodnoznachno
zlr

can someone post the lyrics and translation ?
- BarBarSeven
  
  This comes from a YouTube mirror The Guardian video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yjmnE1VwoA
  Google translation of the lyrics into English.
  
  ‘Putin Lit Fires’
  
  State more time in prison
  The more arrests – more happiness
  And every arrest – with a love of sexist
  After swinging his cheeks, as the chest and abdomen
  
  But we can not be resealed in the box
  Security officers overthrew the better and more
  
  Putin ignites the fires of revolution
  He was bored and frightened people in the silence
  Whatever punishment he had – that rotten ash,
  With no time in many years – the subject for wet dreams
  
  Chorus.
  The country is, the country goes to the streets with audacity
  The country is, the country is going to say goodbye to the regime,
  The country is, the country is a wedge of feminist
  And Putin is Putin goes, leave cattle
  
  Arrested on May 6 the whole city
  7 years we have little, give me 18
  The ban yelling, slander, and walk,
  Take his wife’s dad Lukashenko
  
  Chorus 2 times.
http://voidstar.com/ jbond

I predict a pussy riot.

Interesting to contrast this with Anton Vickerman getting 4 years in the UK for running a website that linked to copyright material.

Pussy Riot, sentenced to two years in a penal colony, release new anti-Putin single

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