Indianna Nash, Staff Writer
In America, where being punished for speaking out about one’s government is considered unimaginable, citizens, politicians and celebrities alike are shocked to hear the latest news from Russia. A punk rock band composed of three women, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, was jailed for performing a song of political protest in an Orthodox Church.
In February of this year, during a Russian campaign for the presidency, the feminist band Pussy Riot performed a concert at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. During one of their songs, they sung about their opposition to Vladimir Putin. They also protested the church’s blatant support of the candidate.
For this, all were held in police custody until Wednesday, October 10, when their official trial took place. Samutsevich was released on the grounds that she was pulled off the stage of the church by a security officer before the protesting song began. The other two, however, received a much harsher sentence. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova now have to spend two years in jail. Alyokhina will be spending her sentence in Siberia at Perm, one the country’s most remote areas while Tolokonnikova will be headed to Mordovia, a swampy region where the most dangerous jails are located. All three women are in their late twenties and have children under the age of five. As of now, their families are not sure where exactly they’re being sent, nor will they know until after the women arrive at their specified jails. The Russian courts are claiming to have arrested them not for protesting Putin, but for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” However, when the group testified they claimed they weren’t attempting to ridicule or belittle the church’s beliefs or traditions, but rather the public support of Putin.
On the day of the trial, there were many fights and protests between the supporters of Pussy Riot and pro-church activists. Politicians who are critical of the band claim that their punishment is due to the desire for more restrictions on public protesting by the new president. The incident has Russians debating the church’s power in its political system. They’re also beginning to question their right to speak out about the way their government is run.
Word of the Pussy Riot’s fate has come to the attention and care even of celebrities such as Paul McCartney and Madonna, who performed with the Pussy Riot’s name on her back in support. Despite all of the attention this case is receiving and all the upheaval it is causing, not only in Russia but around the world, Putin continues to proclaim that he “must protect the feelings of the faithful” and support the sentencing.
Russia’s political system is federalism, in which the states like providences, regions and the central government share power based upon the rules of the constitution. The Russian constitution states in Section 2 Article 29 that every citizen will be guaranteed a right to the freedom of speech and ideas. Are the citizens actually guaranteed this right though? After the sentencing of the band who tried to exercise this so called freedom, many would say the government is not at all.
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