As my colleague David Herszenhorn reports, three members of the all-female protest band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two-year prison terms on Friday by a judge who ruled that their impromptu performance of a song deriding Vladimir V. Putin in a Moscow cathedral last February was “motivated by religious hatred.â€
Despite the harsh sentences, the women - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23; Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30; and Maria Alyokhina, 24 - greeted the verdict with defiance, smiling and laughing at some points during the proceedings.
Tolokonnikova laughs out loud as judge reads out constitutional rights to speech, religion, etc. #PussyRiot
- Julia Ioffe (@ioffeinmoscow) 17 Aug 12
< /blockquote>The band even used the occasion to release a new single, “Putin Stokes the Fires of Revolution,†which was performed outside the courtroom by supporters of the women wearing brightly colored balaclavas.
INCREDIBLE punk impromptu performance from 3rd floor balcony!!!! Music, balaclavas, violence!!! Police confused. !!!!! #Pussyriot
- Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) 17 Aug 12
The women smile as sounds of punk waft into the courtroom. New Pussy Riot song.
- Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) 17 Aug 12
Police have dragged out the punk performer, shoved into bus. She shouts, This is our new song. Pussy Riot is still alive! #pussyriot
- Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) 17 Aug 12
An image of the single being handed out by Ms. Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, in court was posted on the group's official Twitter feed at the conclusion of the trial.
Релиз Ñингла Ð´Ð»Ñ Ð¿Ñ€Ð¸Ð³Ð¾Ð²Ð¾Ñ€Ð° от Pussy Riot прÑмо ÑÐµÐ¹Ñ‡Ð°Ñ Ñƒ ХамовничеÑкого Ñуда! Ð"иÑки падают Ñ Ð½ÐµÐ±Ð°. http://t.co/kxT81zLK
- группа Pussy Riot (@pussy_riot) 17 Aug 12
The Guardian posted the complete audio of the new song online, editing it together with images from the women's trial and part of the video they made to document their performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February.
In my colleague Andrew Roth's translation, the song's refrain goes:
“The country is going, the country is going boldly to the streets
The country is going, the country is going to say goodbye to the regime
The country is going, the country is going as a feminist wedge
And Putin is going, Putin is going to say goodbye.â€The wo men showed no more deference to the court in closing statements they made last week. The complete text of those three statements was translated into English by the journal n+1. Supporters of the group also posted subtitled video of the statements on YouTube.
The closing statement of Yekaterina Samutsevich.The closing statement of Maria Alyokhina.The closing statement of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.As soon as the sentences were announced on Friday, supporters of the women inside the courtroom shouted “Pozor!†- “Shame!†Video posted online by the American-financed Radio Svoboda showed the same chant being taken up on the streets outside the court moments later.
Video of supporters of Pussy Riot shouting “Shame!†and “Free Pussy Riot!†ou tside the court in Moscow on Friday.The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta's video report on the trial showed some protesters being dragged away by police officers outside the court while others chanted “Russia Without Putin!†The report also offered a glimpse of the blogger and protest leader Alexsei Navalny, who could be jailed soon, too, posting on Twitter from inside the courthouse and speaking to reporters after the verdict was handed down.
A video report on the Pussy Riot trial by Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper.
