19 Mar 2012
OPINION: "The idea for the Lord to the history of« Pussy Riot » ROC discredited itself" - a political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky

Portal-Credo.Ru

"Portal-Credo.Ru": Stanislav, what punishment do you think suitable for participating in "Pussy Riot", committed punk prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior?

Stanislav Belkovsky: None. Well, yes, it was a small hooligan gesture, but no more. Moreover, the very emergence of "Pussy Riot", it seems to me, popularized the Christian faith in Russia.

read whole interview:

19 Mar 2012
Q&A: Pussy Riot, the punk band challenging Putin

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

Late last week, a member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot agreed to chat with the Financial Times on Skype.

Famous for pulling stunts such as performing the song “Putin wet his pants” in the middle of Red Square, and “Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin, Expel Putin!” next to the altar at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the band has recently gone to ground after several members were arrested this month. Two are in jail awaiting trial for alleged “hooligan behaviour” in the cathedral stunt; a third member of the group was arrested on Friday, according to their lawyer.

So who are Pussy Riot?
They’re a militant feminist punk band who stage unsanctioned guerrilla concerts at various public venues in protest at Vladimir Putin’s rule. They describe themselves as a mix of leftists, liberals and anarchists united by a wide range of causes: feminism, the promotion of civil society, human, civil and LGBT rights, opposition to political centralisation and “the evil crooks of the Putinist junta”. They cite Simone De Beauvoir, Andrea Dvorkin, Emily Pankhurst, Shulamith Firestone, Judith Butler and Rosi Braidotti as intellectual inspirations.

read whole article : http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2012/03/qa-pussy-riot-the-punk-band-challe...

19 Mar 2012
Orthodox Christians up in arms over 'Pussy Riot' in church

The Observers
France 24
Russians are bitterly divided by the case. Many members of Russia’s opposition parties have asked for the women to be released, arguing that two of them have young children to take care of. Rallies in their honour have been held in cities around Russia, and over 6,000 people, including several orthodox priests, have signed a petition asking for their release.

Meanwhile, many Orthodox Christians are outraged by what they see as a defilement of Moscow’s cathedral. On March 18, the Russian media discovered that the Russian Orthodox Church was distributing a petition to its priests, asking them to have all their congregants sign it. The letter calls for not just the women, but also their associates and the media that covered their performance, to be condemned to sentences that would serve as an example to all. The Orthodox Church claims the letter was a private initiative carried out by a few priests.

19 Mar 2012
Fear God!

novayagazeta.ru
While the former student Andrei Zubov, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin (he studied at the Moscow Theological Academy in the late 1980s), making harsh statements in connection with the blasphemous acts in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour - Professor realized that he could not remain silent. A judicial authorities demonstrate solidarity not with the professor and his student in their career success ...

19 Mar 2012
Putin, Pussy Riot, and the Future of the Russian Protest Movement (Updated)

PolicyMic
“Free Pussy Riot” signs joined the collection of anti-Putin slogans at last Saturday's opposition rally in Moscow. Pussy Riot is the name taken on by a Russian feminist punk rock collectiv, whose wild appearance and anti-Putin lyrics have made them a hit on YouTube over the past few months. While the band's members strive for anonymity - they do not identify themselves by name and wear brightly-colored balaclavas to cover their faces in public - their performances are designed to be attention-grabbers: They previously have held guerrilla street performances on Red Square and at a detention center where pro-reform blogger Alexei Navalny was being held. Their antics were tolerated, at least until their most recent performance.

19 Mar 2012
Feminist punks smash taboos

Feminist punks smash taboos
by Yulia Ponomareva at 15/03/2012 21:37
Photo © RIA Novosti. Andrey Stenin

Pussy Riot are one of the numerous self-organized feminist groups in Russia. In just two outlandish protest performances, the members of punk band “Pussy Riot” have put feminism firmly back on Russia’s political agenda – and it may cost them their liberty.

“We didn’t mean to insult believers, we protested against the Patriarch calling on Christians not to go to opposition rallies denying them the right to participate in politics,” one of the members of Pussy Riot, who called herself Vozhzha, told The Moscow News in an audio interview by Skype on Wednesday.

Pussy Riot, some of whose members say they are Orthodox believers, claim that Christ the Savior Cathedral has been desecrated by the Church. “The Cathedral is more like a business center, with all these halls rented out for profit, dry cleaning facilities, and machines generating snow, smoke and bubbles,” Pussy Riot wrote in their blog.

Orthodox Christians seem to be divided over the issue of prosecuting Pussy Riot members. Condemned by the Church for committing “blasphemy,” Pussy Riot received a storm of curses and threats on their blog.
Meanwhile, public activists collected 5,739 signatures online, including 23 from Orthodox priests and 1,955 from other people who identified themselves as Christians, under an appeal to Patriarch Kirill calling for mercy toward Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova.

Meanwhile, Pussy Riot insist that they mean no harm to anyone through their protests. “Our main aim is to develop the feminist movement, invigorate and politicize it, and fight for gay rights,” Vozhzha said.
Pussy Riot’s ideal state is one in which the government is fully accountable to people. “There should be no authoritarianism or power verticals, all people are intelligent enough to sort out their problems themselves,” Vozhzha said.

Another means to promote their ideas is education, she said. “The state manipulates people through education, especially through the subject called History of Orthodoxy,” Vozhzha said. “If there were other subjects like History of Feminism or History of Fight for Gender Equality teaching about American feminism and Russian suffragettes of the early 20th century, it would make a difference.”

read full article: http://themoscownews.com/news/20120315/189538887.html

17 Mar 2012
Punk rock … alive and kicking in a repressive state near you

The Guardian

In Moscow, a court ruling on Wednesday marked the latest chapter in the story of an all-female band called Pussy Riot, two of whom were arrested last month after they illicitly took over the pulpit in a Moscow church, and attempted to recite a "punk prayer" written in opposition to Vladimir Putin. Pussy Riot's music is scratchy, unhinged stuff that takes its lead from a fleeting genre known as riot grrrl – once again traceable, at least in part, to Washington DC, and brought to fruition nearly 20 years ago by such groups as Bikini Kill, and a British band called Huggy Bear. Their music was clearly derived from punk's basic idea, but took its lead from such feminist groups as the Slits and the Au Pairs rather than the Clash and the Pistols: apart from anything else, the controversy around Pussy Riot has at least served as a reminder of this overlooked strand of punk history.

17 Mar 2012
'Pussy Riot' could face a judge already offended

Digital Journal

What's more troubling is that the judge who authorized the arrests is seen by Pussy Riot's lawyers as being also politically motivated and probably offended as well by the group's choice of song. They point out that judge Svetlana Aleksandrova was involved in July 2010 in the case against organizers of an exhibition called "Forbidden Art". They were found guilty of inciting religious hatred.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/321305#ixzz1pKooxzss

17 Mar 2012
Pussy Riot vs. Orthodox Inquisition

Pravda

The notorious "Pussy Riot" case takes a very unpleasant turn. The arrest of Mary Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova - the members of the punk girl band - has led to unexpected results. Russian "liberals" started begging the West to recognize the women the "prisoners of conscience," whilst the Russian Orthodox Church had to see too much dirt flying in its face.

The controversy about the infamous performance of the punk girl band at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior continues in Russia for three weeks already. Two participants of the band were arrested. The court refused to release them despite all petitions. The hooligan action, which the girls arranged, can cost the women a prison term of several years. One may only wonder, whether they were aware of what they were doing as they started dancing in front of the altar at Moscow's iconic cathedral. Are they surprised with what has been happening to them now, after the "show?"

17 Mar 2012
Pussy Riot digs claws into Putin

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

One day in October, three women in fluorescent masks and minidresses mounted a scaffold in a Moscow metro station, grabbed guitars and amplifiers, and began to play their first hit, “Loosen the paving stones!”

“Egyptian air is good for the lungs! Let’s make Tahrir in the middle of Red Square,” they sang, punching the air in unison, as alternately bemused and shocked commuters watched and filmed them with their mobile phones.