Pussy Riot punk band on trial in Russia

Three members of the radical Russian feminist group, Pussy Riot, who are facing seven years in jail over their “punk-prayer” in Moscow’s main cathedral, went on trial on Monday.

^{Members of punk-group Pussy Riot (from left) Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Aliokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich}

The prosecution of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alekhina is being seen as a weathervane for Russia’s future after the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency in May.

Pussy Riot, whose members wear brightly coloured clothes and knitted balaclavas, caused a sensation in February when they burst into the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. A small group of women rushed up to the ambo, where they danced manically, punched the air and cried: “Mother of God, Blessed Virgin, drive out Putin!”

A video of the incident, in which women in headscarves can be seen trying to usher Pussy Riot out of the church, was posted online with a soundtrack of heavy guitars and extra shouted lyrics. It rapidly went viral and the three young women now on trial were arrested in March. They are accused of committed hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.

                                       

Security was tight outside Khamovnichesky Court where the trial began in the same courtroom where Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the jailed billionaire and Putin critic, was prosecuted last year. Police cordoned off surrounding streets.
The three women were led to a steel and glass dock in handcuffs.
In a statement read to the court by one of their lawyers, the trio denied they had intended to offend believers, saying their “punk-prayer” had been a political protest over the Orthodox Church propping up Mr Putin’s “authoritarian” rule.
Patriarch Kirill openly supported Mr Putin’s return to the presidency.
Prosecutors have asked for the trial to be closed. The judge has yet to make a decision on that point.