Pussy Riot whipped by Cossacks in Sochi

Pussy Riot band Members have been attacked by Cossacks with batons, pepper spray and whips, as the young women attempted to perform a song near the seaport in the Olympic host city, Sochi.

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In their tall, fur hats and embellished traditional jackets, hundreds of Cossacks are patrolling the streets of Sochi, Russia, as the 2014 Winter Olympic Games approach.

These Russian soldiers, whose ancestry dates back thousands of years, are known in the West for their gravity-defying dance style. Closer to home, the Cossacks have long symbolized rebellion and military might in Western and Southern Russia and Ukraine.

After the Bolsheviks (who later became Communists) came to power, they massacred many Cossacks for their opposition to the revolution. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 20th century, there has been a revival of Cossack culture and pride in Russia and the former Soviet states. Russia has been turning to the Cossacks to help bolster security, even before Sochi was named as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Once Russia's henchmen, Cossacks now helping with Olympic security (CNN)

Pussy Riot Members Released From Prison

The third member of the Russian punk bank Pussy Riot has been released from custody following an amnesty law passed by parliament. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova left the prison colony in the eastern Siberian city Krasnoyarsk on Monday, hours after another band member, Maria Alekhina, was released in another region.

The amnesty that enabled their release is seen as the Kremlin's attempt to soothe criticism of Russia's human rights record ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February.

Huffington Post

Punks vs. Monks: Rockers aside, few willing to criticize Buddhist-led violence in Myanmar

Punk rockers draw double-takes as they dart through traffic, but it’s not just the pink hair, leather jackets or skull tattoos that make these 20-somethings rebels: It’s their willingness to speak out against Buddhist monks instigating violence against Muslims while others in Myanmar are silent.

“If they were real monks, I’d be quiet, but they aren’t,” says Kyaw Kyaw, lead singer of Rebel Riot, as his drummer knocks out the beat for a new song slamming religious hypocrisy and an anti-Muslim movement known as “969.” ‘’They are nationalists, fascists. No one wants to hear it, but it’s true.”

Radical monks are at the forefront of a bloody campaign against Muslims, and few in this predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million people are willing to speak against them. For many, being Buddhist is an important part of being Burmese, and monks, the most venerable members of society, are beyond reproach. Others are simply in denial, or buy into claims the Muslim “outsiders” pose a threat to their culture and traditions.

The Washington Post

Jailed Pussy Riot Member in Hospital on Seventh Day of Hunger Strike

A jailed member of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot was hospitalized Tuesday on the seventh day of a hunger strike to protest what she calls a persecution campaign against her.

Maria Alekhina was transferred to a hospital in her prison colony in the Ural Mountains town of Berezniki. Alekhina went on a hunger strike last Wednesday after she was barred from attending her own parole hearing. The court, which is across the street from the colony, denied her release.

Three members of the band — Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich — were convicted last year of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for an impromptu punk protest against Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral and given two-year sentences.

Reason.com

The closing statements from Maria Alyokhina in trial 8 august 2012, Khamovnichesky Courthouse, Moscow

Please turn subtitles on.

Pussy Riot release new single - Putin Lights Up the Fires

Pussy Riot have released a new single called "Putin Lights Up the Fires".

This state may be stronger than time in jail.

The more arrests, the happier it is.
Every arrest is carried out with love for the sexist

Who botoxed his cheeks and pumped his chest and abs.

But you can't nail us in the coffin.
Throw off the yoke of former KGB!

Putin is lighting the fires of revolution
He's bored and scared of sharing silence with the people
With every execution: the stench of rotten ash
With every long sentence: a wet dream

The country is going,
the country is going into the streets boldly
The country is going,
the country is going to bid farewell to the regime
The country is going,
the country is going, like a feminist wedge
And Putin is going,
Putin is going to say goodbye like a sheep

Arrest the whole city for May 6th
Seven years isn't enough, give us 18!
Forbid us to scream, walk and curse!
Go and marry Father Lukashenko

Pussy Riot jailed for two years

The judge has said they are sane and should be punished in accordance with the law. She has listed attenuating circumstances including children (of two defendants), a lack of previous crime and positive character profiles.

The court concludes that it is not possible to change the charges and make them less grave, "there are no exclusive circumstances to do that". And at the same time the motives of the crime and the attitude, the court deems that to restore social justices if they serve a real jail sentence.

And... they will serve jail sentence in prison, the judge has said.

SENTENCE: Each band member receives two years, to begin from the day of their arrest. They will serve this time in prison.

The Guardian

Punk-Prayer "Virgin Mary, Put Putin Away"

(choir)
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, put Putin away
Рut Putin away, put Putin away
(end chorus) ...

Black robe, golden epaulettes
All parishioners crawl to bow
The phantom of liberty is in heaven
Gay-pride sent to Siberia in chains
The head of the KGB, their chief saint,
Leads protesters to prison under escort
In order not to offend His Holiness
Women must give birth and love
Shit, shit, the Lord's shit!
Shit, shit, the Lord's shit!

(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, become a feminist
Become a feminist, become a feminist
(end chorus)

The Church’s praise of rotten dictators
The cross-bearer procession of black limousines
A teacher-preacher will meet you at school
Go to class - bring him money!
Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Bitch, better believe in God instead
The belt of the Virgin can’t replace mass-meetings
Mary, Mother of God, is with us in protest!

(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, put Putin away
Рut Putin away, put Putin away
(end chorus)

freepussyriot.org

Pussy Riot trial: Punk band's members claim they are freer than those carrying out their prosecution

Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot said Vladimir Putin's Russia was the one on trial as they delivered closing arguments on Wednesday in a case seen as a key test of the powerful president's desire to crackdown on dissent.

"This is a trial of the whole government system of Russia, which so likes to show its harshness toward the individual, its indifference to his honour and dignity," Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, one of the trio on trial said in an impassioned statement. "If this political system throws itself against three girls … it shows this political system is afraid of truth."

The judge set 17 August as the day she would deliver a verdict against the women, charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred following an anti-Putin performance in a Moscow cathedral.

The Guardian

Anti-Putin punks Pussy Riot go on trial in Moscow

The trial of three Russian women who face up to seven years in jail for performing an anti-Vladimir Putin song in a Moscow church got under way on Monday, in a case that has divided the country. Initial hearings in the trial earlier this month saw the court order the three members of rock group Pussy Riot to stay in detention until January 2013, a move their supporters condemned as travesty of justice.

With the initial hearings in the trial now over, Monday's audience will see the first legal arguments in a process that is growing into a landmark event in the struggle between President Putin and the emboldened opposition. The hearing at the packed Khamovnichesky court in Moscow got underway with all three detained present shut in a glass-fronted defendants' box as judge Marina Syrova declared the session open.

In February, the three women climbed into an area reserved for priests in the Church of Christ the Saviour, the country's top Orthodox cathedral, and performed a "punk prayer" against Putin. (RNW)

Official website/blog - Official YouTube channel - Free Pussy Riot web-site - no prison for art

Russians join in call for Pussy Riot trio's release

Artists and musicians around the world have called for their release. Now, nearly four months after three women were arrested for performing a protest anthem inside Moscow's most important Orthodox church, Christ the Saviour cathedral, a growing number of Russians are joining calls for their freedom.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alehina – all members of the anarchic Pussy Riot punk band – have been in prison since March, held on charges of hooliganism which could eventually mean a seven-year sentence. Many Muscovites were happy enough to see a tough response to the band's irreverent act of rebellion, which was aimed at President Vladimir Putin. But with no trial date set, no signs that they will be released and opposition to Putin spreading, support for the trio has grown, even among those who at first condemned them.

The Observer

Sex Pistols Decline to Perform at London Olympics Closing Ceremony

Britain’s legendary punk outfit The Sex Pistols is reportedly just as rebellious after all these years. According to the Guardian, the band said a curt “no thanks” to London Olympics organizers who asked them to participate in a commemorative closing ceremony.

Spokespeople for the surviving Sex Pistols, who are led by frontman John Lydon (the erstwhile Johnny Rotten), have refused to comment, possibly supporting the Telegraph’s claim that this is a “snub to the establishment.”

TIME.com

Pussy Riot members charged with hooliganism, face 7 years in jail

Two members of the now notorious "Pussy Riot" punk band have been charged with hooliganism.

­The women face up to seven years in jail for their performance of an anti-Putin song in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Central Moscow. Both detained young women are the mothers of young children. Late last month, four members of Pussy Riot ran into the cathedral in mini-dresses and masks, and performed a song entitled Holy Shit – right at the altar. Two members were subsequently tracked down and arrested. Police opened a criminal case on charges of hooliganism, which could result in up to seven years behind bars. 

More on RT and Reuters