Russia’s Pussy Riot on trial today, face 7 years in jail for performing a punk song

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The trial of members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot began today. In February, the band performed the song ”Mother of God, Cast Putin Out” in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral to protest the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for Putin. Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, were all arrested in March. They have been in jail ever since, and a court recently ruled they can be held until January 12, 2012. They are facing a possible seven year sentence. For performing a protest song.

(The video is closed captioned).

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Church, said the church is ”under attack by persecutors.” Look, I get concerns about religious persecution in Russia. My family came to the US fleeing the pogroms. I was raised in an Orthodox church where I constantly heard stories about Christians being imprisoned for years under Soviet rule. But extreme sentencing to silence one form of speech clearly isn’t the answer. Jailed for months before the trial, and a possible seven year sentence, all for performing a protest song? That sounds like persecution to me.

The band members made statements today – here are some quotes:

In statements to the court, band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova said through her lawyer that the group was wrong to hold a punk performance in a place of religious worship, calling it an ”ethical error,” according to Interfax.

Other members criticized the government and the church, saying their prosecution was taking place under pressure from church authorities.

Yekaterina Samutsevich said she saw the hooliganism charges brought against them as part of a repressive crackdown aimed at ”spreading feelings of fear among those actively engaging with politics” in comments also read out by Volkova.

“I thought the Church loves all children, but the Church only loves children that love Putin,” Maria Alyokina said, journalist Maria Antonova wrote social-networking site Twitter.

Speaking to a lawyer, Tolokonnikova said,”We did not want to offend anybody. We admit our political guilt, but not legal guilt.”

Whatever your thoughts on the tactic of a punk performance in Moscow’s cathedral (I think it’s rad, having grown up in a repressive Orthodox church myself), it’s obvious the response is way over the top. Which has certainly helped Pussy Riot’s work of highlighting the relationship between the Church and Putin, and the government’s extreme take on dissent.

We’ll keep you updated as the trial progresses.

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