Yekaterina Samutsevich: Closing Statement at the Pussy Riot Trial

[Guest]

Extraordinary and brilliant and scholarly statement by Yekaterina Samutsevich, defendant at the Pussy Riot trial in Moscow http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2012/...ing-statement/

[johncorrigan]

Extraordinary and brilliant and scholarly statement by Yekaterina Samutsevich, defendant at the Pussy Riot trial in Moscow http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2012/...ing-statement/

Fascinating John - thanks for that. As she says, they may lose the case but they have not lost.

[Serial_Apologist]

Extraordinary and brilliant and scholarly statement by Yekaterina Samutsevich, defendant at the Pussy Riot trial in Moscow http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2012/...ing-statement/

Was it Yekaterina's husband who was interviewed in English and making one of the strongest personal statements of support I have heard? There's probably a link somewhere.

Anyone know of any protests here?

Strength to them all!

[edashtav]

Extraordinary and brilliant and scholarly statement by Yekaterina Samutsevich, defendant at the Pussy Riot trial in Moscow http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2012/...ing-statement/

Many thanks for linking us to the unexpurgated text, John. These brave women deserve our interest, concern & support.

[JohnSkelton]

Was it Yekaterina's husband who was interviewed in English and making one of the strongest personal statements of support I have heard? There's probably a link somewhere.

Anyone know of any protests here?

Strength to them all!

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's husband. Her statement http://www.businessinsider.com/pussy...atement-2012-8

There have been a couple of demonstrations outside the Russian Embassy in London, the first in April; bigger demonstrations elsewhere in Europe. This http://freepussyriot.org/ is a good place to keep up with their news.

http://pussy-riot.livejournal.com/ their official site, which is constantly being hacked by the Russian authorities.


These brave women deserve our interest, concern & support. Thanks - they certainly do!

[Serial_Apologist]

Pyotr Versilov's was the interview I was looking for:

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3565597.htm

[JohnSkelton]

Pyotr Versilov's was the interview I was looking for:

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/conte...2/s3565597.htm

Thanks S_A.

[JohnSkelton]

Anyone know of any protests here?

Join Pussy Riot Global Day 17 August

http://live.free-pussy-riot.gotpantheon.com/content/join-pussy-riot-global-day-17-august

[Serial_Apologist]

Join Pussy Riot Global Day 17 August

http://live.free-pussy-riot.gotpanth...-day-17-august

Thanks in return, John.

I think we should all do our best to make it a generous turn-out here on the 17th.

[handsomefortune]

thanks for all the links this far -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/13/women-sex-lies-pussy-riot-madonna

[handsomefortune]

my very own online pr wear !!

tomorrow seems to be the official day of protest, and friday the sentences are revealed. (fingers crossed for them all).

imv madge was at her best singing 'like a virgin' with a mask on, and the russian audience loved it.

if i could, i'd go to the leeds protest, but signing petitions counts as much, specifically to russian women that pr's views represent. so, no need to 'go' anywhere in order to show support.

imo sometimes it's not that far off russia here ....from the way the pm casually abuses his female colleagues in public, to the violent treatment of women at uk protests over the last few years, to rising unemployment, and homelessness amongst women. perhaps the west can only hope that yekaterina samutsevich and the rest of the band help spark some international discussion, a concerted new pressure for social change?

meanwhile - let's hope for leniency, in view of massive disgust, worldwide, at putin's public show of deranged misogyny. lastly, shame on those russian women who allegedly support putin's policies because 'putin looks good topless'.....(the idiots)!

[johncorrigan]

I was interested in the case put forward by Nina Power in today's Guardian about the sentence handed out to Trenton Oldfield, the man who held up the start of the boat race for twenty five minutes, suggesting it as an open attack by the authorities on protest and comparing it to the Russian sentences handed out to the Pussy Riot protesters. She argues among othe things that the sentence would not have been so heavy if the event was not televised or if it had been a different event.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/19/boat-race-protest-class-war

[french frank]

She argues among othe things that the sentence would not have been so heavy if the event was not televised or if it had been a different event.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...test-class-war

It's interesting that Nina Power is a senior lecturer in philosophy. It is relevant that if the event had not been high profile - and therefore televised - Oldfield would not have chosen it (and the event was chosen because it epitomised the social inequality that he was protesting about). Of course he wouldn't have got six months if it had been the local primary school's three-legged race. The size of the audience magnified the 'public nuisance'.

I don't think today's anti-cuts protest would/could be classed as a 'public nuisance', although it may have been a nuisance to individuals affected by it. So what is the difference between a protest and a public nuisance?

I'm not sure about the motives of an individual who takes it upon himself to protest on behalf of the thousands/millions who suffer from our unequal society.

That said, is a six-month jail sentence reasonable? Not in my view: it's an outrageous 'gesture', like Oldfield's protest. I hope he appeals as a point of principle, even though he'll probably be released before the issue is settled.

[Pabmusic]

...That said, is a six-month jail sentence reasonable? Not in my view: it's an outrageous 'gesture', like Oldfield's protest. I hope he appeals as a point of principle, even though he'll probably be released before the issue is settled.

I think the sentence was within the range that is fair. One factor to consider is that Oldfield's act effectively scuppered the event - it's not as though it could be restarted in any meaningful way. There was a high degree of planning involved, to ensure the maximum disruption and publicity, and no possibility that Oldfield did any of this accidentally, or that it got out of hand. Add to this the high-profile nature of the event, with live TV and press attention, which (as you say) were factors in the planning, and I cannot see anything to be said in Oldfield's favour.

It is unfortunate that it was the boat race, since that has allowed some people to gloat because the victims were perceived 'toffs', but exactly the same considerations would have applied had it been the disruption of a live Children in Need event. As for comparisons with the Pussy Riot trial, they, too, are misleading. For me, the worst thing about that case was the use of blasphemy laws - Pussy Riot were not convicted of politically-motivated crimes, but of religiously-motivated ones - I suspect to divert attention from Putin.

[french frank]

I think the sentence was within the range that is fair.

Hmmm. Well you could say the judge was doing him a favour in highlighting the unfairness in British society against which he said he was protesting.

But whether the sentence was proportionate or not, I don't think it was about 'criminalising protest'. I don't see that you can claim that causing a public nuisance is justified as long as you are doing it as a protest. Otherwise you then have to have criteria for deciding which protests justify causing a public nuisance and which don't.