By Gregory AdamsEarlier this morning (August 17), three members of Russian punk group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for staging a "punk prayer" in a Moscow church in February. The detained trio of Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samusevich, who have been in custody since March, had previously received praise and support from figures like Kathleen Hanna, Paul McCartney, Björk, Peaches and Madonna over the case. Many in the music world have now met the verdict with confusion and disgust.
Canadian duo Tegan and Sara offered up a simple tweet of "Shocking," and a link to Judge Marina Syrova's verdict.
White Lung vocalist and journalist Mish Way tweeted bluntly of her consternation: "2 years in jail for 'punk prayers' & hooliganism. THEY EXPECT THE WORLD TO THINK ITS APPROPRIATE? Get ready for an explosion."
Pittsburgh-based political punk Justin Sane of Anti-Flag, meanwhile, offered his two cents with "Get 2 years for non-violent political expression. Russia's regime is a joke and an embarrassment."
Brit singer Kate Nash ripped into the Russian judicial system. "Holy fuckin shit. This is fucked up," she tweeted. "Just because the 'excitement' of the trial is over doesn't mean we stop fighting. Speaking to other members of the music community today... Figuring out next steps. We have to continue to protest how the Russian government treats it's people."
Wild Flag's Carrie Brownstein continued the line of thought with her message: "Shameful, unjust verdict for #pussyriot. Yet it's a reminder to be fearless, unabashed participants. Sending solidarity."
"You must be jealous of putin this morning," tweeted Stars singer Torquil Campbell, directing a scathing, sarcastic message to Prime Minster Stephen Harper. "All those muscles and the ability to imprison artists..he's got it all...."
Ted Leo focused on admiring the trio for staying true to their beliefs, despite the result in court today. "Love and solidarity forever to #pussyriot. They are HEROES and the embodiment and fulfillment of everything we could & should be. #STAYPUNK," he tweeted.
Death From Above 1979 drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger added, "It's a good thing that I don't have any opinions or that i've never been to Russia."
Brian Jonestown Massacre Anton Newcombe, meanwhile, doesn't seem to feel the same way on the issue. He tweeted a critique of musicians like McCartney that have thrown their support towards Pussy Riot, and the band themselves. "Sir Paul Mcrayfish lends his support 2 the band #pussyriot -- cute. except they are not a band. they don't play music, shows, or have records," he posted.
As previously reported, the courtroom allegedly erupted with cries of "Shame! Shame!" when the guilty verdict was announced and several protesters were arrested in and out of the courts. Protests have been staged today in support of the band worldwide in Toronto, Berlin, Paris, Helsinki, Sofia and Tel Aviv, among other cities.
Pussy Riot's imprisonment stems from a February 21 incident where they staged a "punk prayer" in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral that critiqued Vladimir Putin's government and its relationship with the church. The performance, which lasted less than a minute before being broken up by officials, contained the lyric "Virgin Mary, Become Feminist / Virgin Mary, Hash Putin Away."
You can see footage of the performance, as well as the newly launched Pussy Riot single "Putin Lights Up the Fires," down below.
you have zero idea why i commented on sir paul's support for this group of activists and missed the point.ask me what i think,but you don't have your facts straight,and you don't speak for me.
I think Pussy Riot has just launched their career! Protests from around the world, international news coverage. I just really hope they do not stay in jail for speaking their truth.
how could this possibly be a critique of pussy riot when he was actually telling the truth? go look it up... the point was they are activists and are going to jail for something they believed in... not money grabbing assholes... the furthest thing from what sir paul is....
Put aside what any celebrity's said and put aside whether or not they're a band. What's important is that freedom of speech and basic rights of protest are continuously eroding in most, if not all countries. The best form of support for the 3 Pussy Riot women is for artists to stage a performance boycott of Russia. If you can't hit em in the nuts, hit em in the wallet. btw - That last Dandy Warhols album is fuckin' awesome! Do you agree Anton?
Wow, Antown is is a prickly cult. Let's face the facts here, gang...
Is Anton irrelevant? Of course not. His early albums are amazing, and stand the text of time. He will never be irrelevant as long as the concept of recorded music survives.
Is he a moron? Well, considering his poor grammar and the childishly defensive way he and his cult following have acted in this comment section, as well the egotistical attacks on Pussy Riot and all of their supporters in his twitter feed, he doesn't exactly come across like a genius among geniuses. Rather, he comes across as an immature asshole with a messianic complex who obsesses about charismatic sociopaths like Charles Manson and Rev. Jim Jones, which manifests as an extremist street team that spam every online instance of criticism against Anton with irrelevant questions about the critic rather than making any attempt to clarify his position or deal with the reality of the situation.
Does he support Pussy Riot? In his own twisted way, I believe he does. He is fairly on point politically, if a little Alex Jonesy. He just seems to take other people's bad music personally, which is probably a deflection of the feelings most people associates with his own sh!tty music from the last five years or so.
hank. grammar don't matter on the internet. but i would like to point out that "pussy riot" is not a proper noun so it don't need no capital letters man. ps. you're a cock!you're a cock!you're a cock!
How easily manipulated you all are. Pussy Riot is not a music group but what is called in the lingo - a psy-op. For a recap of their antics see this link:
Too bad Rachel Corrie wasn't wearing a balaclava and backed up by a punk band maybe you'd all be concerned about the latest verdict in Israel rather than a bunch of deranged sluts in Russia.
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