New York, August 17, 2012--A global day of action is being held today to protest the 2-year jail sentence awarded in Moscow this morning at 10 am to three members of Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist punk art performance group. On February 21 several members of Pussy Riot, wearing neon balaclavas and brightly-colored clothes, sang a punk prayer: 'Virgin Mary, Redeem Us of Putin' at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
"The words we spoke and our entire punk performance aimed to express our disapproval of a specific political event: the [Church] patriarch's support of Vladimir Putin, who [is pursuing] an authoritarian and anti-feminist course. Our performance contained no aggression towards the audience, but only a desperate desire to change the political situation in Russia for the better," said Tolokonnikova, one of the three.
The Russian authorities arrested two Pussy Riot musicians, Maria Alekhina and Nadia Tolokonnikova on March 4, and Ekaterina Samusevich on March 15. They were charged with 'hooliganism' and held in a prison hours from the city without being able to see their children. In their final statements, the women condemned the trial as a farce and pointed to the cruelty and absurdity of life in contemporary Russian society.
Background: Pussy Riot began in response to Putin's 2011 election and is known for staging provocative impromptu performances in Moscow targeting aspects of Russia's current political life. The group operates as an open collective which anyone may join.
Click on [ Ссылка ] for Pussy Riot's first song in jail.
Filmed by Liza Béar at Broadway and 46th Street. lizajbear@gmail.com
