What silence means

The trial hearings on the case of punk band Pussy Riot ended in Russia with the closing statement of the accused. The hearings were held for eight days in a row in Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow – the same court that in 2010 sentenced the personal enemy of Vladimir Putin Mikhail Khodorkovsky to 13 years of imprisonment.

Members of the Pussy Riot band Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ekaterina Samutsevich, and Maria Alekhina are facing seven years in prison. However, the day before the final hearing the state prosecutor asked to reduce the term for all three girls to three years imprisonment in a penal colony. The young ladies, who sang “Mother of God, drive Putin away” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, have been charged with hooliganism and disregard for the rights of the believers. Noticeably, none of the nine people found the victims in this case came into the courtroom to hear the closing statement of the accused.

According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the girls’ statements were emotional. Tolokonnikova said that in the great scheme of things this was not their trial but a trial of the Russian judicial system as a whole. “Christianity, as I understand it after studying the Old and New Testament, supports the search for the truth. Christ was with sinners not by a chance. He said that He is with those who stumble and that He forgives them. But we haven’t seen it during this trial. I think that the prosecution violates Christianity,” said Tolokonnikova, the first to speak. “Like Solzhenitsyn, I believe that words will crush concrete. We sit in a cage but we haven’t lost. Just like the dissidents did not lose. Disappearing in psychiatric wards and jails, they convicted the regime.”

Columnist Anton Orekh is of the same opinion, he wrote in his blog on the site of Ekho Moskvy: “At first no one supported Pussy Riot, thinking that what they did was stupid. Now they have thousands of supporters around the world. And if the girls are put in prison, they will have million of supporters and all of those people will become enemies of the government. Therefore, if the government is bored of ruling they should treat them really harsh. No, it will collapse neither tomorrow, nor anytime soon but with each such verdict their end will be much closer than they might think.”

To make sure that the world is sympathetic to the three girls and not to the completely discredited church, which is used by Russian government as a mask, it is sufficient to read western press. Musicians and singers express support to Pussy Riot in various manners. It is sad that Ukrainian musicians sort of got lost against the background of Sting, Anthony Kiedis, Yoko Ono, Andrey Makarevich, and many others.

Taras Chubai, front man of the band Plach Yeremii said The Day that he does not keep track of the Pussy Riot case at all and that he did not even think about it: “Of course, it is bad when someone is unfairly put in prison. Ukraine can’t expect anything good from Russia. However, somehow I just did not want to waste my time thinking about problems of a Russian band, which I know nothing about.”

Oleksandr Polozhynsky from Tartak was even briefer and wrote us in text message: “I am sorry, but I know practically nothing about it.” Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, front man of Okean Elzy also did not comment on the case of Pussy Riot. According to his press secretary, he flew to London for a few days and, perhaps there he will answer this question.

“Many people say that our political gesture was correct, that we uncovered sores of this system, stirred up a hornet’s nest, which then rushed at us,” continued her final statement Tolokonnikova. “With each day more and more people realize that if this political system throws itself against three girls, who sang for 30 seconds in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, it shows that this political system is afraid of them.”

Speaking of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where the trio performed their punk-prayer, according to informed sources, apart from the church premises there are offices, conference room and even a sauna in there. If this temple is not a place for political declarations then why is there a place for worldly business?

Maria Alekhina, who spoke second, said: “The authorities will blush with shame for a long time for this trial. A trial like this is simply not possible in a healthy society… Without the blessing of the patriarch we uncovered the visual image of Orthodox culture and protest, we declared that the Orthodox culture does not belong to the patriarch and Putin and might be on the side of protest and rebellion.”

The Guardian in the UK published a lengthy article on Pussy Riot case, where they note that: “No politician, nor journalist, nor opposition figure, nor public personality has created quite this much fuss.” The journalist also quotes a girl with a nickname Squirrel, one of the free members of Pussy Riot: “The most important dictator, Putin, is really afraid of people, he’s afraid of Pussy Riot. He is afraid of a bunch of young, positive, optimistic women unafraid to speak their minds.”

The Day asked Myroslav MARYNOVYCH, famous dissident, human rights activist, and theologian to comment on the Pussy Riot trial. “I don’t like their move aesthetically. I suppose that if at the time of their performance I were in the church I would have writhed inwardly and would not consider such method of protest adequate. This is pretty much about it what I don’t approve,” said Marynovych. “It is obvious that these young ladies do not deserve criminal prosecution. It is also clear that the church, soliciting for criminal punishment and for making it more severe goes beyond the scope of its powers and, most importantly, beyond its Christian nature. I am absolutely convinced that if Jesus Christ was in the position of the patriarch and in the position of the present day church he would act completely differently.” According to the theologian, this is a great challenge for the church of the 21st century “which does not know how to respond to such protests.” “The church should be able to communicate with people of its time. If people of this century have found the forms of protest through exposure of naked body, the church should understand that it is the result of the fact that society itself, and primarily politicum fulfils its mission through exposing itself naked – brutal corruption, brutal disregard for society, and abuse of authority. This is for what some people have to be punished. The girls must be released immediately,” concluded Marynovych.

Meanwhile, the announcement of the draconian sentence for Pussy Riot members has been postponed until August 17. “The government took some time to think,” said the lawyer of Samutsevich Violetta Volkova. “Apparently, the top players will have to decide how not to lose their face before the whole world. Now, the situation came to the point when any judgment of guilt would seriously damage Russia’s reputation.” In any case, human rights activists promised protests around the world. But will the Russian government realize that it is already clear that the game is about to be lost and in order to somehow rehabilitate themselves they have only one solution – to set the girls free? We will find out an answer to that in the near future.