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Sergey Ponomarev / AP
Freed feminist punk group Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich, center, speaks outside a court in Moscow Wednesday.
MOSCOW -- Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich said Wednesday the punk band would continue its political protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We are not finished, nor are we going to end our political protest," she said in an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "The situation in the country has deteriorated since our performance and the trial itself is a testimony to that."
A Russian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the two-year jail sentences handed down to two members of punk band Pussy Riot for a protest against Vladimir Putin in a cathedral, but freed a third member by suspending her sentence.
A Moscow City Court judge said the court was leaving the sentences in place for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, and issuing a suspended sentence for Samutsevich, 30.
Samutsevich told CNN that Pussy Riot still exists, but added that the band will be more "cautious" in the future when staging anti-Putin events.
"We have to act in such a way that [the Russian authorities] do not learn about concerts ahead of time ... and arrest us," she said.
The three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for belting out a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral imploring the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.
"Of course I am very happy to be out and to be free," Samutsevich told CNN, "but I'm very upset that Nadezhda and Maria are still incarcerated."
Russian Orthodox Church to Pussy Riot punk band: Repent before appeal
The case sparked an international outcry, with Western governments and pop star Madonna condemning the sentences as disproportionate, a view not widely shared in Russia where public opinion was shocked by the protest.
Members of the all-girl punk band "Pussy Riot" (from left) Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass-walled cage in the Moscow court Wednesday.
The three band members said their performance was a political protest and that they have no animus toward Russian Orthodox faithful.
Before the ruling Wednesday, relatives and lawyers for the trio complained of political interference in the original trial and said that Putin's weekend comments on the case in an interview marking his 60th birthday had compromised the appeal.
Members of the band Pussy Riot, arrested in February after storming a Moscow cathedral, were sentenced to two years in jail Friday. Critics say the arrest was Putin's personal revenge, raising questions about justice in Russia. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.
Samutsevich told CNN the cathedral protest was intended as a criticism of the support given by the Russian Orthodox Church for Putin's re-election, and not as an expression of hatred aimed at believers.
"We believe that we live in a secular society and in this state, the principles of the secular society should be respected," she said. "The representatives of the church should not interfere with the politics of the country, and we wanted to highlight this problem through our action."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Go Pussy! Um, Riot!
In a related story, the band has been renamed Pussy Minor Disturbance.
With Christmas around the corner, does anyone know where I can get Pussy Riot gear for my kids?
I just think they would look adorable with "PR" PJ's, action figures and lunch boxes.
Lock em up and toss the key.
Chriscrossing, perhaps you would enjoy a russian style dictatorship, we dont.
Do the crime and do the time. That's not your country. They knew what they were doing.
No, Russia is not my country. But so what? The people inside Russia, whose country it is, have little enough to say about what happens there. The country is ruled by a dictator, although good as dictators go. But you don't want to poke too much fun at the dictotor. That's not smart.
I see no evidence of religious hatred in these women. Their conviction was a sham, like most Russian court proceedings, where you are almost guaranteed to be convicted.
What I "like" about you people is that you forget that they broke into a church and vandalized the place and "prayed" to the virgin mary (apparently) a CATHOLIC saint in an orthodox church (strange, no). When they were caught the max sentence was 15 years, the prosecutor asked for 7 and the judge trimmed it down to 2. And now one has been set free and you people still whine and complain.
Maybe you would like these criminals to have amnesty in the US?
Maybe you would be so kind to give them a home and food?
In the Orthodox Church the Virgin Mary is referred to as the Theotokos. Her Icon is in all Orthodox churches and she is revered as a saint. The icons represent many shared saints in both the Catholic and Orthodox sects of Christianity.
SevenSevens the Virgin Mary is revered in all Christian faiths, so I don't know what is your surprise to find her icon in a Christian Russian Orthodox church.
All three should be released. What a horrible thing!!
Only in a backward nation would people be sent to prison for 2 years for "offending" others but causing them no harm, nor even threatening any harm. No surprise that it is a nation in which religious leaders have tremendous political power. In a civilized nation, these women would likely have faced a small fine or community service for disrupting the religious rituals on private property. But Diktator Putin is continuing Russia's long tradition of suppressing (violently if they feel it necessary) people's right to complain nonviolently about their government. Very sad.
I'm disappointed in the Russian court.
All three should remain in prison... and they should be flogged.
They should remain in prison for what? What you're doing right now? Freedom of speech anyone?
ChickenMcFugget must enjoy government imposing a no freedom of speech policy.
Freedom of Speech is a constitutional right of Americans. This is Russia. Really opens your eyes to the freedoms we take for granted. I wish these girls the best. Russia... you suck!
Let's not forget..this happened in Russia. There is no freedom of speech in Russia!
Hang 'em High!
Hay Chicken flogger I know who you are and I know where you live, so smile you miserable pc. of s*##t
Troll.
Hummm let’s see, they cause mischief in a cathedral, with a
name like Pussy Riot. I'm pretty sure they were aware there was going to be consequences.
Dumb broads.
These three talentless idiots are akin to a yeast infection, as it were.
Aaah Chicken Flogger is Jealous .... must suck to be you, as you sit all alone naked by the phone picking your zits and feeling your own tits. Your forgetting I know who you are LOL - LOL
Just goes to show you, when you think America sucks, look at other countries where they still arrest you for protesting and freedom of speech.
Think America is free?? Try protesting in front of the white house, supreme court or congress. Try protesting anyplace the Secret service has listed as a high security zone and see how quickly you get arrested. And just so you know the SS could declare anywhere a member of the government is a high security zone, thym could even declare you front yard one if they wanted.
Google the following:
Free speech zone
ACORN v. Secret Service
ACORN v. Philadelphia
Rank v. Jenkins
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
It should scare the hell out of you.
You know Occupy-ers were arrested while protesting peacefully in NYC right?
@starride: Nice copypasta from down further in the comments.
@awalto8: From what I heard, the Occupy-ers were disturbing the peace or something like that. And obviously you can't protest in front of restricted areas like the White House.
From what this article says, this band didn't do anything wrong in that regard. They sang a protest song that spoke out against Putin. Unless they were defacing the Orthodox church they were in, then they didn't do anything wrong.
Freedom? What a total fallacy. There is no such thing. The US gov. may be slightly more tolerant concerning some issues as compared to other governments around the world, but on ther other hand, they can be far less tolerant where a lot of other issues are concerned. Any nations government that rules, regulates, and taxes it's citizens absolutely to death, to the point that it causes it's industry, the backbone of any nation, to flee it's shores in droves, and at the same time runs up a SIXTEEN TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT ON IT"S OWN CITIZENS can hardly be considered FREE by any stretch of the immagination. Think about it, then ponder just how "free" you think you are. In reality, YOUR GOV HAS YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS NATION BY THE BALLZZZZZZ!!!! And they ain't turnin loose!!!!!
In fact, Samutsevich is on the left on this photo, Alekhina is in the center
This is a non-story. Who cares?
In fact, Samutsevich is on the left, and Alyokhina is in the center of this photo
I bet their pussies are getting a riot in jail right now.
Russia knows something that the rest of the world doesn't. Punk rock is the new Christianity. LMAO. Just kidding.
I was curious to see if their "punk prayer" was just a cover of "All-o-gistics" by the Descendents, so I went looking for video footage. It does seem that they were quite a bit rude as to the location of their performance, and were out to cause a disturbance...But a two year sentence for that, F*** that.
Grow a pair, Putin. What a cowardly stance. Fight all the (zoo) tigers you want, but when you need to sick your courts on three young women because they insulted you, your true character shines through.
Well he reduced most of Chechnya to rubble - so you should at least give him credit for that.
Think America is free?? Try protesting in front of the white house, supreme court or congress. Try protesting anyplace the Secret service has listed as a high security zone and see how quickly you get arrested. And just so you know the SS could declare anywhere a member of the government is a high security zone, they could even declare you front yard one if they wanted.
Google the following:
Free speech zone
ACORN v. Secret Service
ACORN v. Philadelphia
Rank v. Jenkins
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
It should scare the hell out of you.
I just love women who are a little trashy.
OMG, what petty bull@!$%#, especially considering there's childmolesters and murderers they should be going after!
Anyone got the phone number for the girl on the far right of the picture ? She's a babe !
Stupid American propaganda is worth even than our Soviet ... will they agree that one of that whore put chicken in SuperMarket into here pussy taking it out for free as a protest against Obama? LOL
Dude, are you high or stupid? You make no sense and your English sucks! Go back to Russia or school!
Alexander should've just said "giant Kodiak bears will rule the Earth". Would've made just as much sense.
* Maybe Alexander Kind is speaking Authentic Eastern European Gibberish, somewhat akin to general gibberish that can be found locally.
(*sacarstic humor alert)
A little? Anyway...... they knew damn well what they were doing was illegal and they decided to do it anyway. Punishment may be a tad harsh but it is what it is. Throw a few jay walkers in prison for a year and I bet you see a lot less people doing it.
Agreed....the saying is universal--
"if you can't do the time,then don't do the crime".
People may think that the laws of Russia are somehow cruel and unusual...however,these fools broke the law and now they're stuck dealing with the consequences of their ill-thought out actions.
Let them sit and rot in a Russian prison....who the hell are pussy riot anyway? Up until this article,had never heard of them. Perhaps they should rename themselves...."Prison Pussys",and by the looks of their smirks in the attached photo, they appear to not take their crimes very seriously.
Let's check back in say...about a year's time,and see if 2 of 3 pussys are still smirking.
I really think that you have a valid point here. They did know they were breaking the law in a place of worship and should have been prepared to pay the consequences for their actions. This act of mischief was not by mistake, but planned. They knew what they were doing, and being Russian know that there is not a lot of tolerance for such behavior. Two years seems like a long time, but I guess punk bands will think twice about doing such things in the future with such stiff penalty.
Yes and lets bring back public floggings for not wearing appropriate clothing, rude language. Oh yeah they do that in Iran and Saudi Arabia. How about public beheadings for adultery.
JohnRN...do you just have a problem with authority? These young women knew exactly what they were doing...and what the likely punishment would be. They clearly have no remorse for what they did....so they deserve no compassion for their actions.
the occupy protestors were mainly peaceful, but you also can and will be arrested for disturbing the peace and marching in restricted areas. Look into it, apparently the protesters did not
I have not followed the many Occupy cases very closely, so this is an honest question: How many have received two or more years in prison for nonviolent activities?
P-Riot needs to be jailed. Most people do not understand what led up to this. Like one member sticking a chicken in her vaginal area and masturbating on a raw chicken in a SUPERMARKET. Second, the P-Riot had sexual intercourse in the Museum in plain view, there's PICTURES online. And you call this freedom? Do you think these girls would had gotten away in biblical times? NO, they would be stoned to death like they should. I'm not a Christian, but these blasphemers should be punished. They are degenerates just like those who support them. I can blame our American Culture for inspiring these women to do such wickedness. It's our Babylonian culture that inspire other once NOBLE nations to commit such foolishness. The Christ Yashayah haters strike again.
"I can blame our American culture" - you sure don't sound American with your "Babylonian culture."
mugen1-Why don't you move in with the Taliban then. Their agenda sounds right up your alley.
Too bad the pope of the 1960s did not perform the consecration of Russia to Mary as he was asked to do.
I'd do the two on the right in a heart beat, the one on the left looks too much like a dyco wytch cop. Riot on Pussy, riot on!
Pussy Riot is bad PR for Putin Russia.
One in the bush is worth two in the hand...Sorry, sick joke. LOL In other news, at least they let the cute one go free.
Glue some hair to the palm of your hand and you'll have some bush in your hand.
Seems like you have done this in the past.
Gee no surprise there. Didn't you know Putin basically runs the court system in Russia. So much for Russian democracy.
Hooliganism is that even a real charge? Or is it a made up one to put away people the government is uncomfortable with having access to the public. They apologized, that should have been enough. I don't read anywhere where they caused any damage or disrupted anything except people sensibilities.
This is what America will be like if the Libs stay in control.