Pussy Riot: Our arrest signals start of repression campaign to spread fear
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 06:56AM Three members of the punk band Pussy Riot, who performed an anti-Putin song in Russia’s main cathedral, have pleaded not guilty to "abusive actions motivated by religious hatred", but concede what they did was an ethical mistake.
As the trial commenced in Moscow, the performers said it marked the launch of a broader repressive campaign.
“I am taking it as the start of a repressive authoritarian campaign which aims to hamper the public’s political activity and build a sense of fear among political activists,” Ekaterina Samutsevich, one of the group’s members, said in a statement in court.
Charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility,” Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Ekaterina Samutsevich, 29, may each face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
The first day of proceedings came to a close after a ten-hour marathon. As the three girls made their statements, the prosecutors read out the charges.
The defense motioned to remove the judge on the grounds she was biased – but the motion was rejected. Most appeals filed by the Pussy Riot's lawyers on Monday met no benevolence, unlike the prosecutors' suggestions. In one of the instances, the use of photo and video cameras during the trial was banned. The decision left only Twitter and similar resources as the only media to report the proceedings.
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