It has been reported that the the two remaining members of Russian punk/art band Pussy Riot have fled Russia and are seeking political asylum in an undisclosed country. Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29,have were convicted and jailed for two years for motivated hooliganism by religious hatred and for offending the feelings of Russian Orthodox believers.
This was in response to the charges brought to a Russian court for a protest in a cathedral five months ago. Judge Marina Syrova has sent down the three defendants. The public prosecutors had been seeking a three-year jail sentence.
The judge stated that the women had “crudely undermined social order” and shown a “complete lack of respect”,during their action in February. The women have always professed that their “punk prayer” was a political act in protest, against Church leader’s support of President Vladimir Putin, not an act against the Church itself.
Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to “throw Putin out”, infuriated the Russian Orthodox Church. The leader, Patriarch Kirill stated it amounted to an act of blasphemy. Along with other members of their band, the women staged a performance of their song in front of the altar in the historical cathedral, on 21 February. Mr Putin was elected for a second term as president two weeks later.
A number of protesters were arrested today, including ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov and opposition politician Sergei Udaltsov. There were also pro-Pussy Riot protests in Paris, where demonstrators in Igor Stravinsky square chanted “Freedom”, and in Kiev, where women protesters sawed down a wooden cross in a central square. Vocal support from musicians and artists including Paul McCartney, Madonna and Jamie Reid have made statements to the public.