Christians in Support of Pussy Riot
We have launched this web project to help free the Russian political prisoners — Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutzevich — who have been illegally kept in custody in Moscow since March, 2012. They are accused of hooliganism, blasphemy and fomenting religious enmity but the real reason is Vladimir Putin’s personal revenge. Three young women — members of the Pussy Riot feminist punk group — entered the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on February, 21, 2012 and sang a prayer to the Mother of God asking her to drive Putin away.
Recent Article: A Letter to The Times
By Michael Bourdeaux, about Soviet practice in Russian Court.
Selected Event: Persecution of Pussy Riot
These women are still behind bars. Each month a judge renews their pre-trial imprisonment. They are brought to Court in handcuffs. The Court has refused to grant bail despite two of them having very young children. The Patriarchate representatives claimed that the performance was “a terrorist act”. It was personally condemned by Putin. The investigation officer stated that the women “had undermined the spiritual foundation of the State”. They are charged with “hooliganism” under article 213.2 of the Russian Criminal Code, which imposes up to seven years in prison, while there is no any evidence for incriminating such charges, which makes both the pre-trial arrest and the charges illegal. All of them were acknowledged as ‘prisoners of conscience’ by Amnesty International.
Selected Petition: To World Council of Churches
NB: Signature collection for this Petition is over due to passing its deadline on 2012-09-15
NB: We have slightly corrected the text of the Petition to reflect the current status of the case (the sentence). However, we didn't alter the idea and our intentions. Thank you for your patience and participation! Sincerely, the Authors.
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We urge you to support two young women Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Mariya Alekhina, who, in violation of Russian law, have been kept in custody in Moscow for more than seven months now. On August 17 they and the third activist Ekaterina Samutsevich, whose sentence was later suspended, were sentenced to two years in a penal colony, where relations are very cruel, sometimes escalating into physical violence. Pussy Riot defense lawyers foresee that the women’s lives may be in danger there.