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February 22, 2013

Russia: Balaclava-Wearing Professors Detained in Moscow on Anniversary of Pussy Riot Protest 
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Russian police detained two university professors who donned balaclavas
inside Moscow’s main cathedral Thursday in honor of the Russian punk
group Pussy Riot. Video footage shows the women laying flowers on the
altar before having their masks yanked off by security. Thursday marked
the one-year anniversary of Pussy Riot’s protest inside Christ the
Saviour Cathedral where they sang a "punk prayer" condemning Russian
leader Vladimir Putin. Two members of the group are now serving two-year
terms for the protest in remote penal colonies known for their harsh
conditions. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on
appeal. She spoke outside the church about the impact of their protest a
year ago.

Yekaterina Samutsevich: "The situation in Russia has changed. First of
all, a lot of people learned about this problem. Those people who
earlier didn't pay attention to social problems, problems with the
Russian Orthodox Church, problems with Putin and Patriarch Kirill, they
learned about these problems, saw the huge amount of information on the
internet and television. They saw the court process, saw how we sat in
the 'aquarium' (glass defendants' cage), saw how much injustice
happened. Now many of them are critical of Putin and the state
authorities, just because of that, because they see all of this
injustice."

 

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