The sensational case of the punk band Pussy Riot is coming to an end. If no unforeseen circumstances interfere, judge Marina Syrova will begin to announce her verdict on August 17, 2012 at 15:00 Moscow time. The prosecution demanded a real imprisonment of 3 years for the troublemakers. The defense insists on the full justification of the scandalous trio.
The high-profile trial proceeded very dynamically, sessions sometimes lasted until late at night, so that such a long timeout before the final verdict was passed was a complete surprise to many observers. According to the press secretary of the Moscow Khamovnichesky Court, Daria Lyakh, on August 17, media representatives will not be allowed into the courtroom. However, this does not mean at all that there will be no coverage of the long-awaited event - on the contrary. A separate room will be allocated for numerous journalists, from which they will be able to follow the announcement of the verdict online. It will be even more convenient for the press - in a separate room you will not have to listen to the judge while standing, and the reading of the final verdict will certainly take a lot of time.
Pussy Riot participants Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich ended up in the dock as a result of the so-called "punk prayer" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on February 21, 2012. They were charged under Article 213 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - "Hooliganism based on religious hatred and enmity against any social group of citizens." The defendants themselves claim that they do not feel any religious hatred towards believers, but on the contrary, with the words of their song: "Mother of God, drive out Putin!" - tried to influence the political situation in the country, and now they are persecuted precisely for this phrase and precisely because of their civic position.
It is worth noting that no matter what the motives of the girls are in fact, the process is already clearly political - the resonance is too great. And if in Russia assessments of the Pussy Riot act differ, and the attempts of individual politicians and show businessmen to express their attitude to this case more resemble PR, then in the West the scandalous trio is perceived precisely as "prisoners of conscience" and is put on a par with the dissidents of the Soviet era … Peter Gabriel, Madonna, Sting, Bjork have openly announced their support for Pussy Riot - and this is not a complete list of figures in the world of show business. But it is much more important that world politicians are in solidarity with them.
So whatever the verdict, one thing is already clear - the scandalous punk group has become famous, and on a global scale, and this glory is likely to last a long time. In this regard, they can already be congratulated on a certain victory, at least as artists. But the image of modern Russia in the eyes of the world community will not benefit from this process in any case. Even within Russian society, supporters and opponents of Pussy Riot, whatever the scenario, will not be forgotten soon. So political speculation around this topic is unlikely to stop even after August 17th.
