Russian Judge Sentences Pussy Riot Members For Two Years For 40 Seconds of “Hooliganism”

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called Vladimir Putin and his return to power “a miracle of God.” Orthodox priests try to kiss Putin’s hand like a demigod when he visits religious sites. Well that “miracle” continued today as prosecutors secured a conviction of three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism for a forty second protest in a Russian church protesting the alliance of Putin and the Church. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23; Maria Alekhina, 24; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, faced a maximum seven years in prison and Putin government sought three years in jail. They got two years. That is one years for every twenty seconds of protest in Putin’s New Russia.

Everything about the case is deeply troubling for civil liberties. Not only is the Putin government pandering to the Church by pursuing the long prosecution over a brief protest but the sentence is absurd. Judge Marina Syrova emphasized that the crime involved offending religious believers — part of a trend of prosecuting people for blasphemy or insult to religion. We have been following anti-blasphemy laws around the world, including the increase in prosecutions in the West and the support of the Obama Administration for the prosecution of some anti-religious speech under the controversial Brandenburg standard. Syrova declared “The girls’ actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the church’s rules.” Notably, Syrova has reportedly only once given a not guilty verdict in 179 cases.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2189771/Pussy-Riot-punk-band-members-jailed-2-years-Russian-court-hooliganism-motivated-religious-hatred.html#ixzz23tVNqC9p

Hundreds are protesting the sentence but there remains relatively little response to the erosion of basic civil liberties under Putin or his unholy alliance with the Russian Orthodox Church. The Putin government appears to relish the international outcry as further showing the Church that Putin is the defender of the faith. Recently when Madonna proclaimed support for the group in Russia, a senior Putin official denounced her as a “whore.” Dmitry Rogozin, a deputy prime minister, went on Twitter to say “With age, every former whore tries to lecture everyone on morality.” Clearly, that is the job of Vladimir Putin — faux archeologist, former KGB agent, demigod, and defender of the faith.