Sunday, June 14, 2015

Pussy Riot Member Detained in Russia for Protest Over ‘Sadistic’ Prison Law

Maybe not that interesting as far as berets go, but a subject close to my heart: Russia under V. Putin, 2 days ago. 
Tolokonnikova and fellow activist Katya Nenasheva appeared in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square, a flashpoint for opposition protests in 2012. Both arrived wearing prison uniforms and proceeded to sew the words “Prison Camp Russia” across a Russian flag, imitating the menial labor Tolokonnikova performed during her two year stint in a Russian prison camp. 
Tolokonnikova said in an interview with TIME that the demonstration was meant to protest what she termed a “sadistic” new law that would expand the punitive measures prison guards could take against convicts, including electroshock weapons.
Russian authorities have defended the law as a clarification of when force can be used to prevent extreme cases of disobedience, such as prison riots, but protesters argue that it would lead to wider abuses, particularly against female convicts.
“Women in prisons, they are in a very vulnerable position, because conditions of their labor and of their living in most cases is worse than conditions in male prisons,” Tolokonnikova said.
Police descended on the two activists and pushed them into a waiting police van. “At first, they didn’t tell us why we had been arrested,” Tolokonnikova said. “They just told us that they’re not supposed to sew in the middle of the street.” They continued sewing in the police station, finishing their work before they were released without charges. “So we can say our action now is finished,” she said. “All we had wanted to do was done.”

3 comments:

  1. These Russian gals from the Pussy Riot band are both demented and disrespctful! If it were me running the show over there, i would have given them a full LIFE sentence (that's typically a 20 year period behind bars in most Western countries). Not too sure why Russia is being so generous to these gals but perhaps the name "pussy" in their band's title has something to do with it??

    Cheers
    Doug

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    1. Shouldn't one have committed a serious crime, before getting any prison sentence?

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  2. Under totalitarian regimes (as related many times over in this blog), it is unnecessary to commit any crime before being punished with exile, imprisonment or death. Simply protesting a law is not breaking it. I'm not sure what the word "cat" in the band's name has anything to do with it? Do you, Doug?

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