Russian court decides to ban Pussy Riot video
November 29, 2012
The Russian punk group, Pussy Riot, came under fire last February after protesting against President Vladimir Putin outside a Russian Orthodox Church. Now, the video of this protest, which landed all three members behind bars, is being banned because of its "extremist" nature, according to Reuters.
The three members were arrested and charged with hooliganism, and Putin has received a great deal of criticism for the charge as well as the sentencing, as each of girls received a two-year jail sentence in August, according to the news source.
The members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, burst into the church and asked the Virgin Mary to help get rid of Putin. They claimed it was not out of hatred for the church, but to mock the church's support of the leader, the media outlet reports. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are still serving their sentences, but Samutsevich walked free last month when her sentence was suspended during an appeal. She is now fighting the court's decision to ban the video as well as trying to get the other members of her group out of jail.
"To me this is a clear attribute of censorship - censorship of art and censorship of culture, of the protest culture which is very important for any country, let alone for Russia," Samutsevich told reporters outside court. "Now of course the fact that they will be blocking all Pussy Riot videos as I understand, all photos - this is horrible. Naturally, I will lodge an appeal and I will try to do it today."
Those who want to talk about the recent updates on the case can make calls to Russia using international calling cards.