Pussy Riot Trial: Russian Prosecutor Seeks Jail Time For Protesters

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters



MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters) - A state prosecutor on Tuesday demanded a three-year jail term for three women from the punk band Pussy Riot, saying they had abused God when they stormed the altar of a Moscow cathedral and sang a "protest prayer" against the Russian Orthodox Church's close links to Vladimir Putin. The case, in which the three are charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, has outraged many Russian Orthodox believers.

But it has also caused an international outcry and focused attention on a crackdown on dissent since Putin returned to the presidency for a six-year term on May 7. "The actions of the accomplices clearly show religious hatred and enmity," federal prosecutor Alexei Nikiforov said in closing arguments, watched by the women's lawyers, friends and family in the tiny courtroom.

"There was real mockery and humiliation directed at the people in the church," he said. The defendants looked pale and tired as they sat silently in a glass and metal courtroom cage, two of them scribbling notes. Their lawyer said the demand for a prison sentence was disproportionate and shameful.

Nikiforov did not press the court for the maximum seven-year sentence. Putin said last week that Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, had done "nothing good" but should not be judged too harshly. But the prosecutor ignored pleas by the opposition and human rights groups not to seek jail terms over the profanity-laced protest, in which the trio, wearing balaclavas and short dresses, burst into the Christ the Saviour Cathedral and belted out a song urging the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/pussy-riot-trial_n_1750811.html

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Putin is a dickless little thug.

[4th law of robotics]

1. Scary looking bunch of thugs

I'm sure russians will sleep well to know they're off the streets.

[freshwest]

2. Guess this ends the 'godless russkis' meme. Hey, Romney, going against God now?

[RZM]

5. Orthodoxy has always been a cornerstone of Russian identity

The Soviet period was a 74 year deviation from this. After its collapse, religion resumed its normal place in Russian public life. It's now considered somewhat fashionable to identify with Orthodoxy, though church attendance is still primarily female and skews toward the older generation.

But it never entirely disappeared during the Soviet period either. In the 1938 census (which Stalin suppressed because he didn't like the results), roughly half of the population indicated that they were believers. That's pretty impressive, given anti-religious campaigns that the state had engaged in.

There is also a very strong connection between Orthodoxy and the state, give that Russia has its own national church that has traditionally worked hand in hand with the government. Putin seems to be a genuine believer as well. In his memoirs, W claims that that in his first private meeting with Putin, he brought up an odd story in which Putin saved his personal cross from a fire (or went in and found it after . . . I don't remember exactly). I think it was an attempt to try to connect with him on a spiritual level and Putin was apparently quite surprised that Bush knew about this and chose to bring it up. Bush admitted the info actually came from an intelligence briefing.

[Lint Head]

3. These women are brave people.

Mockery is a freedom of speech issue. I hope they get out. I want to hear there music.

[SunSeeker]

4. The only one "abusing God" there is the prosecutor. nt

[Canuckistanian]

6. Christianists are seizing power everywhere

The "church" has too much influence on matters temporal.

Atheists and agnostics need to rise up and FIGHT this trend, before we all devolve to religious wars again.

[Odin2005]

7. Putin is a Fascist and Fascism and religious nut-fuckery go together.

[caseymoz]

8. I could insult him in a lot of ways . . .

. . . but that would not be one. Putin is Chuck Norris tough.

[IndyJones]

9. What a sad story. I hope they are set free.

[limpyhobbler]

10. these are political prisoners.

They have already been in jail several months for interrupting a church service.

The real crime was speaking against Putin.

[TheMadMonk]

11. This atheist finds little in their behaviour to distinquish it from desecration.

They might well have been in their rights (assuming Russia even permits unfettered speech) to carry out their protest on the steps of the church, but once they took it inside and to the altar they IMHO crossed the hate crime boundary.

The inside of a church IS NOT a public space. And directing profanity AT people is assault under the law, although direct provocation may be considered a mittigating factor.

I would also guess that their choice of venue was very deliberate. They chose the cathedral for the simple reason that public sentiment would make it impossible for the authorities to not act against them, with the intention of then claiming oppression when the inevitable occured.

[rDigital]

13. Agree, but

I think the most they should have been charged with is some kind of disorderly conduct analog. It was just a protest, I can't quite call it a hate crime.

[NYC_SKP]

12. This is the first I've heard of an arrest. They need to get the hell out of Russia and...

...come to the US.

[cali]

14. There have been reports that all three have been mistreated while

in custody and during the trial.

fuck putin that piece of shit and fuck religion and the state being joined at the hip.

free pussy riot!