Pussy Riot Trial: Prosecutors Call for Three-Year Jail Term

By Miriam Elder, Guardian UK

07 August 12

Moscow court hears closing arguments in feminist band's trial for performing 'punk prayer' against Vladimir Putin in cathedral.

rosecutors have called for three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to be jailed for three years after arguing they had insulted all of Russian Orthodoxy and posed a danger to society.

"They must be isolated from society," the federal prosecutor Alexei Nikiforov told the Moscow court on Tuesday. He and lawyers for the victims argued that if they were not jailed, they would strike again.

The three band members - Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich - have been charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after performing a "punk prayer" against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.

In their closing arguments, prosecutors argued the women were not carrying out a political act, but acting on deep hatred for Russian Orthodoxy. "They violated the traditions of our country," Nikiforov said.

He said the fact that "no politicians" were named in the punk band's song proved it was not a political act. The name and chorus of the song Pussy Riot performed was called Virgin Mary, Chase Putin Out.

Prosecutors presented the women as dangerous feminists.

"All the defendants talked about being feminists and said that is allowed in the Russian Orthodox church," said Yelena Pavlova, a lawyer for several of the nine victims who claimed they were insulted by Pussy Riot's performance. "This does not correspond with reality. Feminism is a mortal sin," she said.

The Pussy Riot case has reawakened anti-government passions that first emerged when Putin announced last autumn that he was returning to the presidency. Opposition activists have called for an impromptu protest to be held on 19 August.

Addressing the court in the afternoon, defence lawyers argued that the women's performance was an act of opposition against Putin and was not motivated by religious hatred. "The 'prayer' they sang was a political one," lawyer Violetta Volkova said.

Mark Feygin, another lawyer for the women, gave an impassioned speech warning of the consequences of a conviction, which ended with applause from the journalists witnessing the trial.

"Russia has no rule of law. Russia has no justice system," he said. "Nothing has changed from Soviet times."

He warned that a guilty verdict would "definitely tear up relations between society and government".

Society would never forgive the government for jailing three innocent women, he said, warning that tensions, including between society and the church, were building to similar levels as before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

He appeared to accept a conviction as a foregone conclusion: "If the order is handed down from above to jail them, then they will be jailed. This is a political case from beginning to end."

Pussy Riot have argued that their February performance inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was designed to call attention to the politicisation of the Orthodox church, which was a key agitator for Putin's re-election. Church officials have said their trial has been willed by God.

The women have apologised if they offended any Orthodox believers.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that their apologies were insincere and that the victims had "the right not to be merciful". They argued that the leader of the church, Patriarch Kirill, had been personally insulted and was "not just an ordinary citizen".

The three women addressed the court on Tuesday and urged the judge to deliver a not guilty verdict. A verdict is expected in coming days.

See Also: Madonna Calls for Release of Pussy Riot