Russia Confirms To The World That It's Not A Fan Of Free Speech: Pussy Riot Gets Two Years In Jail
from the pussy-riot-in-jail dept
Hopefully, many of you have been following the legal fight in Russia over the band/collective Pussy Riot, who performed an anti-Putin song inside a key Moscow cathedral. If so, then you know that, today, the band was sentenced to two years in jail. The sentence could have been worse, but just the fact that they’re being punished, at all, for expressing their views is troubling enough. The three women have already been in jail since March, while the case moved forward. At the beginning, it was assumed that they would end up with jail sentences, but there had been some hope that the Russian judiciary would recognize the general horror of the rest of the world at the case and perhaps back down. The women are planning to appeal, so this isn’t over yet.
Either way, the verdict is unfortunate in many ways. We talk about free speech issues all the time around here, and we recognize that other countries don’t always view freedom of speech as being as central or as important as the US does. That said, the whole idea that a band would end up in jail over political speech should be distressing and problematic to anyone with a developed sense of “right” and “wrong.” Some will say this isn’t surprising, or that this is the way that some countries operate, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still be offended by the decision on principle.
Filed Under: free speech, protests, pussy riot, russia, vladimir putin
Comments on “Russia Confirms To The World That It's Not A Fan Of Free Speech: Pussy Riot Gets Two Years In Jail”
Typo alert:
“other countries don’t always view freedom of speech as being as central or as important as the US does”
That should be “Ecuador” and not “the US”
Re: Re:
The saddest thing is that I don’t doubt that the people of the US are inherently good. I just wish or government truly reflected it’s people’s positions.
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I agree with you about the people, but I don’t think the blame can be entirely laid at the feet of the government – I think as nations both the US and the UK (and others) suffer from the”Meetings effect“
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I just wish or government truly reflected it’s people’s positions.
It does! Remember, corporations are people too!
Re: Re:
other countries don’t always view freedom of speech as being as central or as important as the US does
I was thinking it should say ‘being as central or as important as the US pretends it does’
Re: And why Assange and Pussy Riot matter
A WikiLeaks Primer
Originally, WikiLeaks? Julian Assange fled Iceland as he was under surveillance by business-suited strangers, plus he was tipped off by the bank where the WikiLeaks? account was located that they had been approached by US government personnel.
In Sweden, Assange was immediately approached by a Bonnier family publication for exclusive rights in publishing WikiLeaked documents. Assange declined their offer, both against the principle of exclusivity, and because he?d been advised that the publication was similar to Rupert Murdoch?s British tabloids; not necessarily respectable.
It is important to understand that the Bonnier family is a major European media family (Bonnier AB is one of the 10 largest media companies in the world), who?s ownership extends to American publications such as Sports Illustrated, Popular Science, Time, etc.
The woman who first approached Assange for consensual sex, Anna Ardin, worked for one of the Bonnier family publications, and while her present source of income is difficult to determine, she appears to be surviving nicely. Ardin would later approach the second young lady, Sofia Wilen (who also had consensual sex with Assange), to accompany her to the police.
The law firm which volunteered to represent the two women is comprised of two law partners, Claes Borgstrom, who has two sisters who work for Bonnier family companies, and Thomas Bodstrom, who publishes through the Bonnier family media company (he writes legal fiction).
Bodstrom was also the Swedish Minister of Justice who had OK?ed the CIA?s illegal kidnapping of several Swedish citizens of Arabic origin — also called extreme rendition — who were transported to Egypt for torture (and what could have led to murder), but were eventually released and sued the Swedish government in Swedish courts, winning a financial judgment against them.
Sweden claims it would never allow extradition to any country with a legalized death penalty, yet by allowing extreme renditions to such countries, we know this to be a lie.
Originally when the women approached the police, a junior prosecutor on duty ordered Assange to remain in Sweden, but the Swedish Prosecution Authority shortly dropped all charges as they had no merit.
Later, after allowing Assange to leave Sweden, and due to political pressure from the highest levels of government, the Swedish Prosecution Authority resumed the case without merit, seeking Assange?s extradition, solely for questioning, in violation of both existing Swedish law, and the regulations pertaining to issuing European Union arrest warrants (two very important points!).
During those early events in Sweden, Anna Ardin had chat message traffic with reporters for a Bonnier family tabloid, Expressen, which indicated criminal conspiracy and malfeasance on her part, and while her attorney, Claes Borgstrom, illegally directed her to delete this evidence, she forgot to delete the copy from her blog site, later downloaded by an enterprising Australian journalist.
Unfortunately, this has received scant attention or reportage in the corporate media.
Later, the other law partner and former Justice Minister, Thomas Bodstrom, went on a book tour in America, where he routinely spread disinformation about the WikiLeaks/Assange case. Much of the time Bodstrom stayed at a residence in Virginia, a short drive from the CIA?s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
A curious coincidence, or logistical necessity?
The present Justice Minister, Beatrice Ask, who resurrected the extradition case against Assange, was originally appointed to her cabinet positions by Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister who is presently the Swedish foreign minister.
Carl Bildt appears unfavorably mentioned in several WikiLeaked cables, and was a director at Lundin Petroleum during their involvement in massacres of Sudanese living on oil-rich land in that African country.
Later, in America, a relatively unknown author named Jaclyn Friedman, would attempt to publicize the consensual sex case against Assange as rape charges. Friedman?s web site, at that time, displays her boasting of enjoying sex with multiple male partners in a given week?s time, although at times Ms. Friedman claims to be an avowed lesbian?
Perhaps more troubling is that Ms. Friedman was published through Perseus Books, which at that time was owned by the private equity firm, Perseus LLC, which was also listed as the business address, for tax purposes, for the American Friends of Bilderberg, Inc., whose directors are listed as David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger and Richard Perle.
The business contact for that group at Perseus LLC and either the firm?s CEO or a senior executive, was James Johnson, a major character featured in a recent book by NY Times financial reporter, Gretchen Morgenstern, cited as playing a major governmental role in the subprime mortgage meltdown.
A Bonnier family member, Elisabet Borsiin Bonnier, was and still may be the Swedish ambassador to Israel.
Quite a bunch of improbable connections pertaining to a strange case of consensual sex?
[A recent important article on Bradley Manning?s trial can be found at the site below.]
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-most-disturbing-thing-about-the-case-against-bradley-manning/Content?oid=14460991
Re: Re: And why Assange and Pussy Riot matter
This is all part of a larger problem endemic throughout the world; the concentration of power into a few hands. We are, quite literally, doomed. There are fewer and fewer mom and pop operations each day thanks to corporate greed. Unfortunately they are slitting their own throats by slitting the individual throats of the common man to promote their unfettered greed. The result is less diversity and more sheep like behavior of the masses. We are doomed.
Re: Re: Re: And why Assange and Pussy Riot matter
off point i know but important none the less.
Russia may well have confirmed how much it will not tolerate free speech, at least it has done so openly. the US, UK, Sweden and other nations are even worse. they outwardly stand up for it until it is about something or someone they dont like, then those involved are arrested, tortured, put in front of judges in mock trials and imprisoned, never to be heard from again.
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Uh, no…. even terrorists get their day in front of a court sooner or later.
Earlier post linked to broken link
A Daily Dirt about what our pets are thinking recently linked to another post (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20020515/0012207.shtml), which in turn linked here:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/cats020514.html
That gives me a 404. Please fix.
Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
Not sure why you’re commenting about this here, but try this link:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98004&page=1#.UC6EVKllTzY
Re: Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
Thanks. The reason was because two days passed with no response to the other comment, and I thought maybe a comment on a post that wasn’t on the front page of the site anymore might not get noticed.
Re: Re: Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
Well, in the future, you can also try googling to find replacement articles for broken links. Link rot is a common problem, and there’s no permanent fix (yet?)…
Re: Re: Re:2 Earlier post linked to broken link
It’s not my job to google for it; just to click on the link and read what you guys found. The whole point of posting hyperlinks in Daily Dirt (and other) articles is rendered moot if we’re supposed to (re)do all the work of finding the things ourselves.
Fixing broken links is a site owner’s responsibility, not the users’, except for wiki sites that explicitly give users the power to do the fix themselves and where the links are likely user-contributed to begin with.
This might not be that bad, I say we offer to trade David Lowery for Pussy Riot. This way he can really learn about getting ripped off.
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You, sir, get a First Post from me for that level of internet-winning-ness….
Religion is a bitch
Gotta love religion. It always comes before freedom.
And you gotta love it more when your country’s politics are heavily influenced by a Church.
Way to Orthodoxy – yet more reasons to despise you.
Re: Religion is a bitch
Perhaps an trans-temporal interview from Russian history will help us here:
Rept: Now gentlemen, what our viewers really want to know is just how harmful an impact religion has had on freedom in Russia? So, ivan the Great, do you think religion is, or ever was the central problem, for Russian human rights?
Ivan:(Glares)
Rept: Okay, ah, Mr. Stalin? Religion and human rights?
Stalin: Human writes? Yes you need some people to writing, but not the religion writing, I don’t like this.
Putin: Niet, Joseph…(Explaining in russian, making violent gestures, making “X” with his hands)….okay?
Joe: Oh, oh, yes, no,no,no is ah, is about fun, you know just is fun, the whole (fingers quotation marks)”oppression” thing…is fun.
Putin: Yes, I agree. You see, Joe, Dmitri,and me, even Ivan — Good old-Ivan, I like to call him (Ivan glares at him): we are all really just fun guys having fun, you know…our way. Religion? I mean, Joseph, he doesn’t like, Dmitri he likes, Ivan, well heheh, and me, I mean, I like the Easter eggs, so whatever, but human rights, oppression, torture, it is just about good fun, you know?. Whatever is best for you, you do that.
Medvedev: (Shugs, nods)
Ivan: (Glares—a brief, faint smile)
Rept: (blinks) I see.
Re: Re: Religion is a bitch
Yeah, it’s real ironic like that Russia and Putin are playing the religion card don’t you think?
Re: Re: Religion is a bitch
One figure you missed from the report is Peter the Great – source of a large part of the problem.
Re: Religion is a bitch
Gotta love religion. It always comes before freedom.
And you gotta love it more when your country’s politics are heavily influenced by a Church.
Way to Orthodoxy – yet more reasons to despise you.
Note that the church has called for leniency…
Please read the history of church and state in Russia.
You will generally see good influence of church on state – and bad influence of state on church.
And you gotta love it more when your Church is heavily influenced by your country’s politics.
FTFY
Re: Religion is a bitch
@Travis:”you gotta love it more when your country’s politics are heavily influenced by a Church”
Most countries have the same offence in law. In Canada, for instance, it’s a criminal code offense to make a disturbance in a church. Canadians manage to live with it. The Pussy Rioters would end up in jail in Canada, too. No big deal.
This is terrible free pussy riot
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Let see what a simple punctuation can do….
This is terrible! Free Pussy! Riot!
Re: Re: Funny story, that...
This is terrible free pussy! Riot!
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Actually, I don’t think there is punctuation that fixes this.
Free speech in the US?
I know this is overdramatic but free speech is on it’s last legs here in the US. We need to stay focused on our own problems instead of talking about how bad Russia is being.
Re: Free speech in the US?
How is free speech on it’s ‘last legs’ here in America? You can still say whatever you want over the internet and in newspapers.
I just do not see how free speech is on it’s last legs in America today, you are going to have to give some examples if you want us to believe that.
Re: Re: Free speech in the US?
Hmm,
1. dajaz1.com
2. Mayfield – http://www.doyouhaveasecret.org/
3. mooo.com – http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110220/17533013176/ice-finally-admits-it-totally-screwed-up-next-time-perhaps-itll-try-due-process.shtml
I could give you some more, but it’s quite apparent that the judicial system of the US is being circumvented rather frequently.
Re: Re: Re: Free speech in the US?
It’s deeper than internet injustice. You can get fired for stating your opinion, you can get thrown in jail for peacefully protesting, the list goes on.
Re: Re: Re:2 Free speech in the US?
“you can get thrown in jail for peacefully protesting”
that’s after having been cuffed tazed, maced and beaten.
this just in, Russia Hates Pussy!!!
If I was them, I would leave the country immediately and ask for asylum in another country.
This is batshit insanity here, that someone is being put into prison for a song.
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it’s not for a song. it’s for daring to offend putin
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Sounds like something out of the movie “Super Mario Brothers”:
“You can’t put a guy in jail for singing a song!”
“For anti-Koopa songs we can.”
Re: asylum
@Anonymous Coward:”If I was them, I would leave the country immediately and ask for asylum in another country.”
Don’t try for asylum in Canada! The Pussies would end up behind bars in Canada, too. What they did is a criminal offence here.
so, you can break into a place, which would be what they did, since they were not there for church, they had no business to be there
so you pirates feel its ok to break into a place, as long as you made some “speech” about something, you shouldn’t be arrested??
you people are sick
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Anyone could enter, so I would say it was open to the public.
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Congrats on being the only person to point out that they were interrupting church service (shame on Mike for leaving this detail out).
But it’s a damn shame you had to ruin your comment with a straw man and an exaggeration. They did not “break into a place”, there was no destruction of property. And no one says they shouldn’t be arrested for interfering with the church service and refusing to leave. But I don’t think it’s right for them to serve two years in prison.
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the point is the church is in putin’s hip pocket while the country supposedly has separation of said church and the blessed state. This pissed the pussy riot off, as well it should.
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@DCX2:” But I don’t think it’s right for them to serve two years in prison.”
They’d get that – and maybe more – in Canada. It’s a criminal offence to make a disturbance in a church in Canada.
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Oh, so I’d better go and collect those whoopee cushions I put out yesterday then? 🙂
“Expert” opinion vocalized during proceedings:
“At the same time, the experts concluded, that active political position is a proof of mental disorder. Behavioral abnormalities were detected in all of the defendants, they are manifested in the active defense of their own opinions and inclinations to opposition behaviors. Nevertheless, experts have found that girls are sane, and therefore should be held accountable for their action.”
Sounds like good old days when USSR was keen to send dissidents to psyciatric clinic.
We should import our assassins to Russia. Putin, FUAD
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Overkill, literally. No, what the world needs is all the Putins in the world slipping on banana peels taking a pratfall, and multiple cellphones capturing the events to be uploaded to YouTube.
Sending PR to prison for two years for what they did strikes me as a pratfall. Putin, you still haven’t managed to shake off those KGB roots of yours? Slow are we? What a doofus.
We talk about free speech issues all the time around here, and we recognize that other countries don’t always view freedom of speech as being as central or as important as the US used to.
Fixed that for you.
had this happened in the USA, would the government taken any notice of what the population thought? no way!! has the fact that the rest of the world, including a multitude of famous celebrities, have joined the condemnation of what was happening/has happened made any difference? of course not!
do the girls think that an appeal will get them anywhere? of course not! it will however get the case back into the spotlight.
almost every country in the world is suppressing or destroying any and all human rights, privacy rights, freedom of speech rights and replacing them with what amounts to dictatorships. the one difference that i see compared to fascist Germany of world war 2 days is that all countries are collaborating to bring about the same changes everywhere. anyone able to tell me i’m wrong and what is actually happening while comments are still allowed?
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I would just add that we are all collectively funding the dismantling of our rights and the militarization of our police forces to ensure that we can never do anything about it.
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Not that I’m not sympathetic, but it sure seems they’re pretty bloody incompetent if that’s the aim. We still have a relatively unfettered Internet. We can biatch and moan all we want, and there’s no Gestapo/Stasi/DHS breaking down our doors in retaliation. Hell, look at the travesty the US’ DoJ visited upon Megaupload. That’s damned near laughably incompetent. “What ultramaroons. What im-BEC-iles!” as Bugs Bunny would say.
If this is the level of opposition against us, this’ll be a cakewalk. They’ll bury their own bodies gladly for us.
Speech is one thing - however...
In communist times the women would have been jailed for merely expressing these opinions.
Julian Assange and Bradley Manning are being persecuted by the US/UK for merelypublishing information.
When you aggravate the situation by the venue or manner of your expression it is quite likely that you will be treated more harshly.
In the UK it seems disrupting a cricket match to get a point across could lead to a similar term of imprisonment as has occurred here.
(Read this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Davis_%28robber%29 if you don’t believe me).
Most countries have things that they are supersensitive about and this church is very sensitive in Russia right now. Remember it was blown up by the Bolsheviks and only rebuilt very recently.
I am sure that there is some monument/event that would provoke a similar reaction in every country if “desecrated”.
Re: Speech is one thing - however...
wow, that was thinly veiled, nice.
Re: Re: Speech is one thing - however...
try to build a mosque at ground zero much?
Since Soviet times propaganda we have figure of speech “But you hang negroes”. It was popular in to answer on foreign critique of Soviet Union in papers like Pravda with accusations of US hypocrisy and double standards.
The sad thing is, exactly the same rhetoric are used now in case of Wikileaks.
Why the quotation marks?
“right” and “wrong”
Thanks for putting those words in quotation marks. Very fitting.
Re: Why the quotation marks?
word meanings are fluid in a living language. Nice used to mean ignorant. Silly, blessed. Girl, boy.
Putin Pussy Riot in Jail.
I know there is a joke in here somewhere.
I am just to dumb to see it.
Putin vs Medvedev
This censorship is being driven by Putin rather than the Russian government as a whole. The rest of them care little about criticism of Putin, but Putin cares. Medvedev was getting corruption cleaned up, a task that Russia desperately needs done, before the presidential election. That should have made him wildly popular, yet he lost to Putin. Then the bad old days of corruption returned.
Does anybody know why Putin is so popular with the Russian people? Why do they love him so? Why did they not appreciate Medvedev? Similarly, why did they not appreciate Gorbachev?
Re: Putin vs Medvedev
I think maybe they like the feeling of security they get from totalitarianism?
Hooligans get two years of lockup – I feel safer already.
Thank goodness these criminals can no longer roam the streets causing mass mayhem and destruction.
In Mother Russia pussies riot you. O_o
Truthfully, with the way the US is going I could easily see any of our presidential administrations in recent memory doing something similar.
It has nothing to do with a free speach
It is so called the crime of hate. The internet, TV, newspapers have a lot of critical conversations about Putin and Co. Stupid girls should choose some other place then cathedral to express them self. By poll 46% of population agree that they should be punished. Maybe not that hard.
By the way, some European countries have similar laws. Someone can get three years of jail time for doing similar show in Germany.
Re: It has nothing to do with a free speach
@Anonymous Coward:”Someone can get three years of jail time for doing similar show in Germany.”
Canada, too.
Pussy retards
Does anybody really care about these social retards? Acting out in a church for political reasons is about as dumb a move as any pussies could make. maybe 2 years in the slammer will give them time to think about the meaning of life.
Re: Pussy retards
Not when Leader of the church is publicly endorsing dictator.
Re: Re: Pussy retards
Then they’re even more retarded than I thought. How could they NOT see that making an ?ss of themselves in a church is like asking for trouble?
Pussy Riot belongs in jail
You guys are walking perilously close to the “fake news” line. What Pussy Riot did is a CRIMINAL offense in most countries. In Canada, acting the ass in a church is an offense under Sec 430(4.1) subject to 10 years imprisonment.
So give us readers break – we don’t need to get all stressed out over bogus free speech issues. And this is about as bogus as it gets. There’s much better topics to focus on.