Pussy Riot in prison....... take action to stop moral panic that's gone to far.

Last February, five members of the Russian feminist punk-rock collective, Pussy Riot performed a 'punk prayer' next to the main altar of Mosco's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, that is not open to anyone but a priest..... A video of the incident can be seen below, where their faces masked with colourful stylish balaclavas sang a song wth an obscene chorus, appearing to mock Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and apparently savaging Vladimir Putin. 3 were subsequently arrested and charged with hooliganism ( Nadya Tolokonnikova, Maria Alehina and Yekaterina Samusevich) a little bit over the top in my opinion and leave Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church up for more mockery, if they take away the freedom  from Pussy Riot. Blind moral panics about , I suppose are nothing new...... going back to the witch hunts and the dawning of punk and rock and roll.......
PUSSY RIOT have said that " we realized that this country needs a militant, punk-feminist, street band that will rip through Moscow's streets and squares, mobilise public energy against the evil crooks of the Putinist Junya and enrich the Russian cultural and political opposition with themes that are important to us: gender and LGBT rights, problems of masculine conformity, absence of a daring message on the musical art scenes, andthe domination of males in all areas of public discourse."http://www.vice.com/read?A-Russian-Pussy-Riot I say amen to that.
Yesterday over 30 supporters  were arrested outside a Moscow City Court theyare facing a possible jail term of up to seven years......  supporters include prominent artists, muscicians and activists, organised a protest festival outside the court, where a carnival atmosphere took place..... with people carrying balloons and chanting the words ' freedom', before things decended into chaos.The band members were refused bail and will be kept in jail until June 24.

A PussyRiot Supporter yesterday

Putin does have a sense of humour I suppose and is unlikely to be upset at being lampooned in a punk song. What's more worrying is that the Orthodox Church appears to be saying that the event should be treated more seriously because it took place inside a church. Normally this sort of incident would attract a maximum six month sentence.
Freedom of expression should be defended and more importantly the Orthodox Church should not be above criticism.
Please go to the following link and send message to President Putin asking him to intervene in this case to secure the release of the women and to pardon them if they are convicted.
http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/

Pussy Riot - Punk Prayer