Jail for Russian punk rockers
Source: Agencies |
August 18, 2012, Saturday
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A JUDGE yesterday sentenced three members of Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot to two years in jail for staging a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a church, an act the judge called "blasphemous."
Judge Marina Syrova found the women guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, describing them as blasphemers who had deliberately offended Russian Orthodox believers by storming the altar of Moscow's main cathedral in February to belt out a song deriding Putin.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, listened to the hearing in a glass courtroom cage.
The women said they were protesting against Putin's close ties with the church when they burst onto the altar in Moscow's golden domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral wearing bright ski masks, tights and short skirts. State prosecutors had sought a three-year jail term.
"Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and Alyokhina committed an act of hooliganism, a gross violation of public order showing obvious disrespect for society," the judge said. "The girls' actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the church's rules."
Though few Russians have much sympathy for the women, Putin's opponents portray the trial as part of a wider crackdown by the former KGB spy to crush their protest movement.
But Valentina Ivanova, 60, a retired doctor, said outside the courtroom before the verdict was delivered: "What they did showed disrespect toward everything, and toward believers first of all."
"Let them get three years in jail; they need to wise up."
The trial has divided Russia's mainly Orthodox Christian society, with many backing the authorities' demands for severe punishment, but others saying the women deserved clemency.
Putin, who returned to the Russian presidency for a third term in May after a four-year spell as prime minister, has said the women did "nothing good" but should not be judged too harshly.
Witnesses saw at least 24 people detained by police in scuffles or for unfurling banners or donning balaclavas in support of Pussy Riot outside the courtroom.
The crowd of about 2,000 people outside the court was dominated by Pussy Riot supporters but also included some nationalists and religious believers demanding a tough sentence.
"Evil must be punished," said Maria Butilno, 60.
Judge Marina Syrova found the women guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, describing them as blasphemers who had deliberately offended Russian Orthodox believers by storming the altar of Moscow's main cathedral in February to belt out a song deriding Putin.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, listened to the hearing in a glass courtroom cage.
The women said they were protesting against Putin's close ties with the church when they burst onto the altar in Moscow's golden domed Christ the Saviour Cathedral wearing bright ski masks, tights and short skirts. State prosecutors had sought a three-year jail term.
"Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and Alyokhina committed an act of hooliganism, a gross violation of public order showing obvious disrespect for society," the judge said. "The girls' actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the church's rules."
Though few Russians have much sympathy for the women, Putin's opponents portray the trial as part of a wider crackdown by the former KGB spy to crush their protest movement.
But Valentina Ivanova, 60, a retired doctor, said outside the courtroom before the verdict was delivered: "What they did showed disrespect toward everything, and toward believers first of all."
"Let them get three years in jail; they need to wise up."
The trial has divided Russia's mainly Orthodox Christian society, with many backing the authorities' demands for severe punishment, but others saying the women deserved clemency.
Putin, who returned to the Russian presidency for a third term in May after a four-year spell as prime minister, has said the women did "nothing good" but should not be judged too harshly.
Witnesses saw at least 24 people detained by police in scuffles or for unfurling banners or donning balaclavas in support of Pussy Riot outside the courtroom.
The crowd of about 2,000 people outside the court was dominated by Pussy Riot supporters but also included some nationalists and religious believers demanding a tough sentence.
"Evil must be punished," said Maria Butilno, 60.
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