KOMMERSANT/WORLD CRUNCH
Pussy Riot PHOTO/Igor Mukhin
A Russian punk-feminist band called Pussy Riot has spent the past two months in jail after singing “Dear God, Chase Out Putin” in a Moscow cathedral. This week Russian police arrested some of their fans too.
Already in trouble with Russian authorities for their recent “punk prayer service” in a Moscow cathedral, feminist rock band Pussy Riot has now gotten some of its fans in hot water as well.
More than 10 of the band’s fans were arrested Thursday during a gathering in front of the Moscow courthouse. Pussy Riot fans arrived at approximately 1 p.m. for what they called a “Judicial Festival,” an event organized to protest Pussy Riot’s continued incarceration. The arrests took place about an hour later.
Pussy Riot’s band members have been locked up since Feb. 18 – two weeks before Russia’s presidential election – when they led a controversial “service” in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. During the event, the women sang a tune called “Dear God, Chase Out Putin” while wearing colorful masks, dancing and bending over in faux-prayer. Neither the police nor the Orthodox Church appreciated the punk group’s feigned religious fervor. They are now facing “hooliganism” charges.
World Crunch for more