The People's Record

burnedshoes:

© Handout / Reuters, July 23, 2012, Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky, a supporter of jailed members of female punk band ‘Pussy Riot’, looks on with his mouth sewed up as he protests outside the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. A court on Monday rejected a request to call President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to testify in the trial of three female punk rockers who derided Putin in a protest in the country’s main cathedral, their lawyer said. (source)

Three young women are being detained by Russian authorities for allegedly performing a protest song in a cathedral as part of a feminist punk group ‘Pussy Riot’. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich were arrested in March 2012 and charged with ‘hooliganism’. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to 7 years. The three women deny any involvement in the protest although even if they took part, the severity of the response of the Russian authorities would not be a justifiable response to the peaceful - if, to many, offensive - expression of their political beliefs.

Tell the Russian authorities to drop all charges and release them by taking action on the Amnesty International website!

(Source: burnedshoes)