Pussy Riot members sentenced to 2 years of jail - found guilty of hooliganism

A judge has ruled on the fate of 3 members of the Russian feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot today. The verdict: the 3 have been found guilty of hooliganism and have each been sentenced to 2 years of jail. The verdict can be appealed within 10 days. And all that for singing a (bad) protest song in a church.

The band have been on trial on hooliganism charges for an anti-Kremlin protest in February in Moscow's main cathedral singing the song "Mother of God, chase Putin out".

The trial was - according to western standards - a complete joke with lots of references to god mixed throughout the hearings. Here are some excerpts from the WSJ live blog:

• The normal functioning of the Church was violated.
• Judge just said the band members' clothes did not obey the Russian Orthodox church code (headscarfs, long skirts).
  
• Judge just said one of the Pussy Riot members "imitated demonic attacks."
  
• The judge is making frequent references to the colorful nature of Pussy Riot's dresses, tights, etc.
  
• Yet again the judge says this occurred at the "address of God."
  
• The judge says the women's clothing was not acceptable for church.
  
• Judge says Pussy Riot uttered "offensive words" for Orthodox believers.
  
• ...

It remains to be seen if Putin will abuse the sentence to later show clemency and set them free. The 'offer' would end in a perfect PR job by Putin and Co.

Posted by B. Van Isacker