RAVE: Go Pussy Riot Go Go Go!

The trial of the punk feminist girl group Pussy Riot continues in Moscow. Three of the punk group's members (Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevitch) are facing criminal charges due to taking part in anti-Putin protest at Russia's largest and most well-known Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow.



The protest took the form of a punk skit at the altar of the said cathedral, in which they sang and danced and, according to Wikipedia, "In the song, the group asked the “Theotokos” (Mother of God, i.e. the Virgin Mary) (Bogoroditsa in Russian) to 'chase Putin away.'" The song also mentioned Russia's Patriarch Kiril I of Moscow as someone who 'believes in Putin rather than in God.'

So, in essence, this was nothing more than a political protest in a so-called 'holy place.' Big deal. Yet, they are up on 'hooliganism' charges, which in Russia is a serious offence, especially a Russia firmly within the bosom of their mother religion, not to mention firmly under the iron control of the very man whom the band despise, one Vladimir Putin.

Of course, Putin finds it all quite bemusing and just 'hopes that they will learn to be more responsible and respectful in the future.' He would.

He has further gone to great lengths in TV interviews to insist that the verdict will remain 'firmly at the discretion of the court,' as if this was anything but a show trial of momentous political proportions. Again, he would.

Not surprisingly, the laughable and decidedly politicized trial of Pussy Riot has garnered huge outcry from artists and people all over the world. Many, yours truly included, find it a despicable show of unyielding (and jittery?) state power in a country trying so hard to assert itself as a democratic nation. This is a 'misdemeanour' at most, worthy of a small fine and possibly community service, the equivalent of a legal slap on the wrist. It could, unfortunately, prove more costly to these brave, determined punk rockers.

Pussy Riot are the epitome of what I have always admired about punk - anti-establishment, socially angry for all the right reasons and fundamentally political. Even if I don't always relish the music, I am at heart punk. Because punk is about giving it to The Man and making damn sure everyone knows about it. Who the hell can argue with that?!

So, as their show trial unravels and as their legal fate hangs in the balance, my only determination is that this Russian girl punk band must be assertive, proud and, above all else, defiant.




Always it should only be Go, Pussy Riot, Go, Go, GO!!!