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| Clandestine members of Pussy Riot |
I usually blog about the media here, so this is stepping out of bounds a little bit but not really because there was a documentary made about the whole Pussy Riot fiasco called Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013) released by HBO films so I can basically tell my grievances through that if you're really that uptight about it.
I'm writing this today because today is the 1 year anniversary of the incarceration of three key band members of Pussy Riot by the Russian government, two of which are under 25. Some back story coming up.
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| the thee members on trial; Nadya Tolokonnikova, Katya Samutsevich, and Masha Alyokina, mocking the courts for the ridiculousness of the situation. Good for them! |
I'm a first generation immigrant, born in Russian (thankfully not into the Putin regime of totalitarian dictatorship) and immigrated to the United States at 7 in 1991 as communism was falling apart all over the place. Now what Russia has is a very close environment to Stalinist communism bordering Fascism with Putin's reign as supreme fucktard of the universe. Pussy Riot are a punk band made up of angry chicks with the most hilariously bizarre ironic and iconoclastic attitudes. They are vehemently opposed to Putin (as most people in Russia and all over the world are) and were arrested when they performed in one of Moscow's most famous cathedrals in February of 2012 and charged with get this 'public hoolganism'. That must have been some shit Putin invented when fishing shirtless high on Desomorphine and vodka.
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| Lead singer, Nadya Tolokonnikova always put on a brave face even when behind bars to show the world, and more importantly her captors that they weren't about to break her any time soon. |
Three of the band's key members, Nadya Tolokonnikova, Katya Samutsevich, and Masha Alyokina (I'm calling them by their informal names as a symbol of my solidarity) stood trial in Russian court (which is an oxymoron in itself) and were eventually (of course) convicted because unlike the good ol' US of A, where we just let killers back on the streets despite damning evidence (whole other blog post, some other time) in Russia, you're guilty until proven innocent, and if Putin himself is trying to put you behind bars, honey you are going to spend time in Siberia doing hard labor, away from your family, your children (Nadya has a 2 year old daughter) and be thankful that the government is not going after them as well, which it very well might do. 'Public hooliganism' carries with it a mandatory 2 year sentence term, so let's think about this objectively as intelligent people with brians; a few girls performed some punk music in a cathedral, condemning Putin. They didn't get naked, burn the Russian flag, or run through the streets armed with Molotov cocktails threatening to overthrow the government. For that, they are now in prison for two years. And while we as Americans could go into any denominational church or synagogue for that matter, put on some Bush and Cheney masks (I don't know how relevant that would be...ok Anthony Weiner masks) and do the exact same thing and our rights would be protected under the 1st amendment, not so for these three very young chickas.
So seriously, be thankful you live in a country where the highest act of treason is burning your country's flag, and even then if you have a good lawyer you stand a fairly good chance of being acquitted on all counts. And be thankful for all your freedoms like being able to watch the Daily Show's correspondents make fun of congress's incompetence and the ability to shout whatever the fuck you feel about Obamacare out of your car window to any passing stranger. Because in Russia, you breath a nasty word about Putin and you're lucky you're not tasting cyanide in your tea the next day. Am I right Alexander Litvinenko?
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| The balaclavas worn by Pussy Riot have become an international symbol for the fight for freedom of expression. |
This insanity has to end. People are marching daily chanting 'Rascia bez Putina' which basically means Putin go fuck yourself, or in the literal sense; 'Russia without Putin', I'll go a step further and say 'Mir bez Putina'; World without Putin. Get him on a big jet plane and set him as our first live test subject to Mars. He can be ultimate dictator over their many craters and waterless river beds. He'll love it, and we here on earth will all live in a better place. Fight the power! Free Pussy Riot! And in the words of their leader, Nadya I'd like to end with the following: 'Open your doors, take off your uniforms, come taste freedom with us.'
Below a trailer for the aformentioned documentary:
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