Punks on trial for anti-Putin prayer

 
all-girl punk group called Pussy Riot perform atop Lobnoye Mesto stone platform in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral (L) and Kremlin's Spasskaya (Saviour) Tower (R) on the Red Square in Moscow, on January 20, 2012. Russian police detained today the all-girl punk punk group on Red Square
AFP
20 July 2012

The trial of Russian rockers Pussy Riot, who chanted a “punk prayer” against President Putin from the pulpit of Moscow’s main Orthodox church, began today. The five women are accused of hooliganism and could be jailed for up to seven years.

Five members of Pussy Riot - wearing brightly coloured homemade ski masks and miniskirts - briefly seized one of the pulpits of Moscow’s main Orthodox church, the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, in February and chanted “Mother Mary, drive Putin away”.

A video of the performance posted on the internet shows churchgoers astonished as the women chant, high-kick and dance, and then appear to bow and bless themselves as security guards arrive to remove them.

Three band members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 - were arrested and face up to seven years in jail on hooliganism charges.

The court building was surrounded by dozens of riot policemen, along with the band’s supporters and critics.

Their cause and the Russian Orthodox Church’s harsh response have provoked public outcry and deeply polarised Russia.

The church said the women deserve to be prosecuted for their “blasphemous” performance from a place near the altar that no lay people are allowed to enter, although thousands of believers have signed a petition urging the church to forgive the band.

Pussy Riot gained notoriety in January for performing a song entitled Putin Chickens Out from a spot in Red Square used in czarist Russia for announcing government decrees. Videos of their performances became instant internet hits.

The band’s “punk prayer” took place two weeks before March’s presidential vote in which Mr Putin won a third term despite a wave of massive protests against his rule.

Lawyers for the band members argued that they should be released because they have young children.

Although church and state are separate under Russia’s constitution, the Russian Orthodox Church has claimed a leading role in setting moral guidelines for society. Its growing prominence has caused concern among followers of minority faiths and non-religious Russians.

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