 |
An
unidentified supporter of Pussy Riot speaks to the assembled press
outside the
Christ the Saviour Cathedral, in Moscow, Wednesday, Aug. 15,
2012. The global
campaign to free Pussy Riot is gaining speed: Supporters
of the punk
provocateur band mobilize this week in at least a two dozen
cities worldwide to
hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before
a Russian court rules on
whether its members will be sent to prison.
(AP Photo/Alexander
Zemlianichenko)
|
MOSCOW (AP)
-- The global campaign to free Pussy Riot is gaining speed: Supporters of the
punk provocateur band mobilize this week in at least a two dozen cities
worldwide to hold simultaneous demonstrations an hour before a Russian court
rules on whether its members will be sent to prison.
Friday's
rallies will ride a wave of support for the three women who have been in jail
for more than five months because of an anti-Putin prank in Moscow's main
cathedral. Calls for them to be freed have come from a long list of celebrities
such as Madonna and Bjork. Protests have been held in a number of Western
capitals, including Berlin, where last week about 400 people joined Canadian
electro-pop performance artist Peaches to support the band.
In one of
the most extravagant displays, Reykjavik Mayor Jon Gnarr rode through the
streets of the Icelandic capital in a Gay Pride parade this weekend dressed
like a band member - wearing a bright pink dress and matching balaclava - while
lip-synching to one of Pussy Riot's songs.
Although
the band members and their lawyers are convinced that the verdict depends
entirely on the will of President Vladimir Putin, and prosecutors have asked
for a three-year sentence, activists hope their pressure will ease punishment
or even free the women.
Putin has
said the women should not be judged too harshly, but he risks appearing weak if
they walk free.
Amnesty
International has declared the women prisoners of conscience and collected tens
of thousands of petitions to be sent to the Russian government. So far, though,
the human rights group said it has been blocked from delivering them. Two boxes
containing 70,000 petitions were taken to the Russian Embassy in Washington on
Tuesday, but a Russian diplomat carried them outside and dumped them on the
sidewalk, Amnesty International spokeswoman Sharon Singh said.
"He
did not want them anywhere on Russian soil," she said by telephone on
Wednesday. Repeated calls to the embassy went unanswered.
Nadezhda
Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were little known
before their brief impromptu performance in Christ the Savior Cathedral in
February. Dancing and high-kicking, they shouted the words of a "punk
prayer" asking the Virgin Mary to deliver Russia from Putin, who was set
to win a third term in a March presidential election.
They were
arrested on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, which carries
a maximum sentence of seven years. Since then, they have been vilified by the
state media, while winning over hearts at home and abroad.
About 20
supporters wearing colorful balaclavas held a brief protest on the steps of the
cathedral on Wednesday, each holding up a letter to spell out "Blessed are
the merciful" in Russian.
"This
action was done in support of the girls," said Anna Tashina, 18, who was
one of at least two protesters detained by police. "We wanted them to know
that we are with them, that they haven't been forgotten."
Madonna
also donned a balaclava during a concert in Moscow last week and had
"Pussy Riot" written on her bare back. Yoko Ono sent a personal
message to Samutsevich, saying that "the power of your every word is now
growing in us."
A group of
leading British musicians, including Pete Townshend of the Who and members of
the Pet Shop Boys, published a letter in the Times of London ahead of Putin's
visit during the Olympics to urge him to give the Pussy Riot members a fair
hearing.
On Friday,
activists in more than a dozen cities are expected to take to the streets
beginning at 2 p.m. Moscow time (1000 GMT), an hour before the judge is to
issue the verdict. The protests are being coordinated by the defense lawyers.
Venues vary
from the square outside the ornate Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona to
the yard outside the Russian Embassy in London.
In Paris,
the protest will be held on Stravinsky Square and led by 29-year-old Alexey
Prokopyev from Russie-Libertés, a Paris-based organization formed in December
to bring together Russians studying or working in France.
"Most
people go to these rallies in Paris because we cannot be in Russia at the
moment for various reasons - because of jobs, classes," said Prokopyev,
who was born in the Soviet Union and has spent most of the past 17 years in
France. "We all wish we were in Moscow now, but since we can't we do it in
Paris."
Russie-Libertés
also is helping to organize rallies in Marseille, Nice, Lyons and Montpellier.
Wearing
balaclavas, activists protested earlier this month on the iconic Alexander III
bridge, named after the Russian czar who was France's ally in the 1890s.
Prokopyev
said that he and his peers "want Russia to be a normal country" and
be able to elect a president "who doesn't make the country where we were
born a laughingstock."
In New
York, Friday's protest will take place outside the Russian Consulate and later
on Times Square.
"It's
absurd that this case is being treated as criminal, while in any other
civilized country that would be merely an administrative offense," said
Xenia Grubstein, a 31-year-old journalist helping to organize the New York
protest.
She said
the hope was that the louder people speak out against the Pussy Riot case, the
greater the chance that the verdict will be fair.
A protest
is also planned in Washington, where last month punk rockers and arts activists
rallied outside the Russian Embassy.
The U.S.
State Department has expressed concern about what it called the "politically
motivated prosecution of the Russian opposition and pressure on those who
express dissenting views."
In France,
Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti last week issued a statement expressing
concern that artistic freedom was on trial.
A German
cross-party group of lawmakers sent a letter to the Russian ambassador calling
the five months the band members have spent in custody and the possible prison
terms "draconian and disproportionate" punishment.
"In a
secular and pluralistic state, peaceful artistic activities - even if they may
be seen as a provocation - should not lead to accusations of a serious crime
and long prison sentences," the lawmakers said in the letter, which more
than 100 members of parliament signed.
The
international press has been full of critical reports from the trial. One of
Germany's most influential magazines, Der Spiegel, featured the band on its
cover with a picture of Tolokonnikova behind bars and the headline
"Putin's Russia."--
Greg Keller
in Paris, David Rising in Berlin and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this
report.
 |
| If convicted, the members of punk outfit Pussy Riot could spend up to seven years in jail |
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.