Pussy Riot await verdict in Moscow court, Friday: photo - EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV; below - Archbishop Michalik and Kirill I sign joint message in Warsaw; photo - radek Pietruszka/PAP.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich were found guilty in a court in Moscow of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”, following the performance of a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral and will serve the two year jail sentences from the day of their arrests - which was in March this year.
Pussy Riot called on the Virgin Mary to “drive Putin away” during the performance.
The song sung at the cathedral however also included the lyrics, "Sh*t, sh*t, the lord is sh*t" (see English translation of lyrics here).
Russian Orthodox leader, Kirril I, the Patriach of Moscow currently in Warsaw for a two-day visit , called Pussy Riot’s act in the cathedral “blasphemous”
Protests against the detention and trail of the punk bank have taken place in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Australia and the UK.
In Warsaw, protesters are meeting late afternoon and will be demonstrating outside the Russian Embassy.
When reading out the prosecution case against the three feminist musicians, Judge Marina Syrova noted that prayers in a Russian cathedral can only be offered by a priest and not ordinary members of the public.
Prosecutors asked for three year jail sentences for the three band members, arguing they had insulted believers of Russian Orthodoxy and if not jailed would “pose a continuing danger to society”.
International celebrities such as Madonna and Sir Paul McCartney have backed the women in the name of freedom of speech and conscience.
Arrests
Russian opposition politician Sergey Udaltsov was arrested near Moscow's Khamovnichesky Court during a demonstration against the Pussy Riot’s trial.
Former world chess champion and now anti-Putin politician Gary Kasparov was also arrested on Friday at what is an unsanctioned protest by Pussy Riot supporters.
In June, President Putin signed into law new restrictions on the right to assembly, with a fine of up to the equivalent of 32,100 USD for organizing an unsanctioned event and up to 9,000 USD for participating in one.
“Joint forgiveness”
The leader the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill I, made no mention of the trial or guilty verdict when he was in Warsaw today, as he signed the joint message with leader of the Conference of Polish Bishops, Archbishop Jozef Michalik.
The Patriarch of Moscow underlined the “joint message of forgiveness” message shows that the faith of both peoples calls for Poles and Russians to break away from stereotypes shaped by the past and the aim for a rapprochement enabling the mutual development “in solidarity and Christian love”.
Kirill, noting that ties between Poland and Russia in the spheres of economics and culture are not enough, and only “Christian faith that should be the foundation for a common dialogue”.
The patriarch of Moscow said that that forgiving does not mean forgetting about past persecutions, adding that investigating history and its dark chapters should be left to the domain of specialists. (pg/ab)