Slavoj Žižek, breaks it down (h/t):
If we understand cynicism as ruthless pragmatism of power which secretly laughs at its own principles, then Pussy Riot are anti-cynicism embodied. Their message is: IDEAS MATTER. They are conceptual artists in the noblest sense of the word: artists who embody an Idea. This is why they wear balaclavas: masks of de-individualization, of liberating anonymity. The message of their balaclavas is that it doesn’t matter which of them got arrested ”“ they’re not individuals, they’re an Idea. And this is why they are such a threat: it is easy to imprison individuals, but try to imprison an Idea!
The panic of those in power ”“ displayed by their ridiculously excessive brutal reaction – is thus fully justified. The more brutally they act, the more important symbol Pussy Riot will become. Already now the result of the oppressive measures is that Pussy Riot are a household name literally all around the world.
It is the sacred duty of all of us to prevent that the courageous individuals who compose Pussy Riot will not pay in their flesh the price for their becoming a global symbol.
Check out the Graun, Moscow Times, the WSJ, and AFP for live, ongoing Pussy Riot trial verdict coverage.
Related: Reuters photojournalist Tom Peter recounts the early beginnings of Pussy Riot.
Update: To the surprise of no one, Pussy Riot have been found guilty, reports the Graun. Verdict still being delivered.
Update 2: This:
Pussy Riot may be guilty of “hooliganism,” but have won the day by having a judge read out their manifesto live on international television.
— Mark MacKinnon/马凯 (@markmackinnon) August 17, 2012
Update 3: Russian journalist Tikhon Dzyadko & economist Vladislav Inozemtsev on the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church & Putin’s state; Valeria Costa-Kostritsky explores Russia’s contentious view of feminism; Read ALL the closing statements.
Oh, and in other (tangentially related) news, Moscow just banned Pride parades for the next 100 years. #winning
Update 4: The sentence:
#PussyRiot band members sentenced to 2 years jail after being found guilty of hooliganism for Moscow cathedral protest bbc.in/OmJ8NG— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) August 17, 2012
“The great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed is to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well” ~ Paulo Freire
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them,and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows,or with both~FDouglas
… is my nominee for Protest Sign of the Year.
The other day I was considering the ascendancy to power of the Millennial generation when the following occured to me.
Every pussy under 30 and of legal age is owned by a Millennial.
Now tell me they don’t have some power.
I did inhale.
AP, September 12
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday called for three members of the punk band Pussy Riot to be freed, a sign that the women’s release could be imminent since their case comes up for appeal on Oct. 1.
The band members were arrested for performing a raucous prayer inside Moscow’s main cathedral asking Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin as he headed into the election that handed him a third term as president. They had already spent more than five months in jail when they were convicted in August of “hooliganism driven by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in prison.
By being the one to call for the women’s release, Medvedev, who has cultivated the image of a more liberal leader, could allow Putin to put the uncomfortable case behind him while not appearing weak.
The outward appearance of the women, who perform in bright-colored miniskirts and balaclavas, and the “hysteria” accompanying them made him sick, Medvedev said with disdain. But he said keeping them in prison any longer would be “unproductive.”
Pussy Riot case: Russian court to hear appeal
BBC, September 30
A Russian court is due to hear an appeal by three activists from punk band Pussy Riot.
In August, three members of the group were jailed for two years for staging an anti-Kremlin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
The Russian Orthodox Church said on Sunday that clemency should be possible for the trio as long as they repented what they called their “punk prayer”.
But their lawyers have said that they doubt the appeal will be successful.
Moscow court frees 1 of 3 Pussy Riot members
AP, By Nataliya Vasilyeva, October 10
One jailed member of the punk band Pussy Riot unexpectedly walked free from a Moscow courtroom, but the other two now head toward a harsh punishment for their irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin: a penal colony.
The split ruling by the appeals court Wednesday added further controversy to a case that has been seized upon in the West as a symbol of Putin’s intensifying crackdown on dissent.
All three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison. They argued in court on Wednesday that their impromptu performance inside Moscow’s main cathedral in February was political in nature and not an attack on religion.
The Moscow City Court ruled that Yekaterina Samutsevich’s sentence should be suspended because she was thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could remove her guitar from its case and thus did not take part in the performance.
If the Kremlin’s plan was to create a rift in the trio by letting just one band member go, it didn’t seem to work.
The two other defendants squealed with joy and hugged Samutsevich before she was led from the courtroom to be mobbed by friends and journalists waiting outside on the street.
Pussy Riot band members send to remote prison camps
Two members of the anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot have been sent to remote prison camps to serve their sentences, the group has said.
Maria Alyokhina, 24, will serve the rest of her two-year term at a women’s prison camp in Perm, a Siberian region notorious for hosting some of the Soviet Union’s harshest camps. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, has been sent to Mordovia, a region that also hosts a high number of prisons.
“These are the harshest camps of all the possible choices,” the band said via its Twitter account on Monday.