“They ask you: do you want parole? Then you just adapt,” Alyokhina said in her article. “It’s not hard to get out on parole. You need to sew 12 hours a day for a thousand rubles maximum per month; you need to refrain from writing complaints; you need to make substitutions, snitch on others, tread upon the last vestiges of your principles; you need to shut up and bear it; you need to get used to it.”

According to the Pussy Riot member, the entire “corrective” system is built on the basis of forcing prisoners to acclimate to arbitrary conditions. All the inmates are forced to memorize internal regulations, and violations of these regulations result in punishment that forms the basis for turning down an inmate’s request for parole. “If you fall asleep while doing your corrective work, that’s a violation; a poorly sewn-on tag is a violation; having a loose button on your coat during lineup is a violation,” Alyokhina explained.

Alyokhina also described her living conditions. She particularly pointed out the inaccessibility of hot water and how different her hands look after months of washing them with cold water. As a vegetarian, she is also having an adverse physical reaction to the prison’s “meat-only menu.”

On November 29, Alyokhina received an official reprimand for oversleeping. Less than a week earlier, she had been moved to a solitary cell at her own request because of conflicts with other prisoners. Pyotr Verzilov, husband of fellow jailed Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, said that Alyokhina’s lawyer is fighting the reprimand in court. The federal prison service said that it could be removed for “a positive attitude towards work.” As it stands now, the reprimand could prevent Alyokhina from receiving parole in the future, which she and Tolokonnikova are subject to review for in March 2013. The two are currently serving two-year sentences for “inciting religious hatred” in what has been globally decried as a politically-motivated case.

Yekaterina Samutsevich, the one arrested member of the punk group Pussy Riot who has been released on probation, has announced plans to take part in federal proceedings to determine whether a video of her group’s “punk prayer” should be qualified as “extremist.” The news came on Thursday from the activist’s lawyer, legal analyst Irina Khrunova of the Agora human rights association. The case is set to be heard in Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky Court.

Samutsevich, who had been sentenced to two years in a penal colony for “hooliganism fueled by religious hatred,” decided to exercise her right to take part in the proceedings as an interested person, as covered under article 263 of Russia’s Civil Procedural Code.

The activist believes that her rights and legal interests could be impacted if the video is deemed extremist, and has requested copies of all the materials involved in the case. She has also requested adequate time to prepare for the court session.

Khrunova said that her client’s parole status doesn’t prevent her from asking the court to take part in the case in this way.

“Samutsevich isn’t losing anything. In accordance with the court verdict, it has been established that she participated in the video as an actress. Nobody’s saying that she edited or distributed it. Therefore, if the video, with her participation (as an actress) is declared extremist, it’s going to affect her rights,” Khrunova explained. She added that it wasn’t clear yet whether the court would actually grant the request. The two other Pussy Riot members who were sentenced to prison – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina – could also choose to take part through proxies.

Tolokonnikova’s lawyer, Mark Feygin, said that he hadn’t heard of Samutsevich’s appeal and so hadn’t discussed it with his client.

Feygin said he couldn’t respond unequivocally to the question of whether it’s worth it for the Pussy Riot prisoners to get involved in the case. “The fact that Samutsevich wants to participate as an interested person isn’t a bad thing. And I understand that she and her lawyer would be able to defend the interests of all three girls in regards to the court possibly declaring the video to be extremist,” Feygin said. “We’d be glad to let her act as our so-called ‘correspondent’ [meaning ‘proxy’ – Gazeta.ru],” he added.

On the other hand, the lawyer said that getting involved in the case could ultimately harm the activists.

“If we get involved in the process right now as interested persons, we thereby legally confirm a direct link between our defendants and this video,” Feygin said. “I’m not sure that we should admit a legal connection with this video right now, since it could affect their punishment, particularly the possibility of parole.”

Tolokonnikova’s husband, Pyotr Verzilov, said that he and the two remaining jailed Pussy Riot members know about Samutsevich’s appeal. “Nadya was told about this today, and now she needs to discuss it with her lawyer. They’ll decide together what to do,” he said.

Verzilov said that he just met with his wife on Thursday. “Nadya was assigned to the seventh unit, and she’s been working in the sewing shop for two days now. Relations here are good, correct, everything is remarkably good so far,” he explained. “Her cellmates treat her very well, despite reports that there would be problems. The penal colony management deals with us with apprehension and astonishment, but at the same time they’re very friendly and respectful,” he added.

The news that the Prosecutor General had agreed to check the video of Pussy Riot’s performance for extremism came out on November 2.

The clip was a recording of the band’s February 21, 2012, performance in Moscow’s Church of Christ the Savior: five girls in brightly colored dresses and balaclavas stepped onto the altar and performed about one minute of a song calling for the Virgin Mary to “banish” Vladimir Putin. Liberal Democratic Party State Duma Deputy Aleksandr Starovoytov requested that the video, along with Martin Scorsese’s film “The Last Temptation of Christ,” be checked for extremism. In his opinion, “the videos offend the feelings of millions of believers, negatively influence social ethics and morality, and watching them carries negative consequences.” Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin said that a check had been ordered by the Moscow Procurator. In the end, a “psycho-linguistic analysis” of the Pussy Riot video was carried out, the results of which led the procurator to send the Zamoskvoretsky Court a statement about declaring it extremist.

Neither the Zamoskvoretsky Court nor the Procurator General offered comment to Gazeta.ru.

Tell your government to support “Magnitsky” legislation

Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer who was killed in a Moscow pre-trial detention facility after uncovering a $230 million fraud scheme involving members of the Russian government, police, tax service, and mafia. None of the people who played a role in his death have been prosecuted. In response, politicians in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and many other European countries have introduced legislation that would ban the Russians involved from entering their countries and, in some cases, freeze their assets. Such measures would send a concrete message to Russia that its failure to prosecute these individuals is not acceptable by international standards. Contact your government representative and tell them that failing to support this legislation would be to ignore Russia’s flagrant abuse of human rights, civil rights, and the rule of law.

In the United States: http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How_to_contact_senators.htm
In Canada: http://www.canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html
In the United Kingdom: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/government-and-opposition1/her-majestys-government/

Donate to the Foundation for Democracy in Russia

The Foundation for Democracy in Russia (FDR) is Garry Kasparov’s non-profit organization supporting civil rights and democratic freedom in Russia. One of the most important initiatives that the foundation funds is a legal defense fund for political prisoners. You can donate to FDR by clicking here.

• Inside the courtroom, the judge declared the three young women guilty of “hooliganism” with “religious hatred” for political protest inside a Moscow cathedral. They have been sentenced to two years in prison.
• Kasparov was not protesting; he was outside speaking with journalists when police pushed through to seize him. Kasparov was pushed roughly into police van, where he was struck and choked. He is currently being held at police station as police await orders.
• In an even more absurd turn of events, police accused Kasparov of biting an officer’s finger, which Kasparov dismissed as “complete garbage,” adding: “How much strength do you need to bite someone’s hand through to the bone anyway? It would at least damage a couple of teeth, but mine are all fine.”

Moscow – August 17, 2012 (1400 GMT)

Unprecedented crowds of supporters and journalists surrounded the Moscow courthouse where the female Russian punk trio Pussy Riot were sentenced today. The three women staged an anti‐Putin protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February and have been jailed since March. Their persecution has drawn tremendous public attention and support from human rights organizations and artists around the world. They were declared guilty and sentenced to two years in prison. Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and a long‐time Russian pro‐democracy leader who chairs the United Civil Front in Russia and the US‐based Human Rights Foundation, was outside the courthouse speaking to Radio Svoboda journalists when police pushed through to seize him. The 49‐year‐old Kasparov insisted he was not protesting but the police grabbed him and violently dragged him into a police van, where he was further physically assaulted by the police, as documented by a photographer. PHOTOS (see below): http://bit.ly/R6tzMz ~ http://bit.ly/S0VPjn

When reached by telephone at a nearby police station, the battered Kasparov stated, “this is the perfect Kremlin reply to those who talked about Russian liberalism under Putin or who believed in an acquittal for Pussy Riot or Putin’s talk about leniency.” Kasparov’s fate is uncertain. An estimated 50 people have been arrested outside the courthouse so far.

Contact Mig Greengard at +1 917.495.9460 or mgreengard@theotherrussia.org. Updates are being posted at http://www.kasparov.ru, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garry‐Kasparov/243791258306 and https://twitter.com/Kasparov63

According to VTsIOM sociologists, 44 percent of citizens feel that the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church could seep over into the spiritual and moral life of the public. Another third believe that the church’s activities should be limited exclusively to religious and faith-based issues.

The number of people who saw the active participation of religious institutions in all spheres of public life, including politics, as acceptable ranked at only 16-17 percent.

“Those in favor of limiting the influence of the church to issues of faith were mostly young people, highly-educated people, and those who don’t trust church ministers,” said the report. “Conversely, proponents of political subjectivity on the part of the church included those who trust church ministers, respondents above pension age, those without higher education, and residents of rural areas.”

VTsIOM pointed out that the level of trust in church ministers has fallen 15 percent over the past two years.

The question of the church’s participation in Russian political life became widely discussed following the arrests of three members of the punk band Pussy Riot in March. Two weeks earlier, the group performed a protest song in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior criticizing Patriarch Kirill’s calls to vote for Vladimir Putin for president. If convicted, the women face up to seven years in prison; prosecutors are asking for three. The verdict in their case is set to be delivered on Friday.

It’s possible that many people are seeing our behavior as impudence and insolence. It is not.

We are in a desperate situation, the kind where it’s difficult to remain aloof.

It’s been heartwarming to hear of those who are supporting us during this process, but the harshness and rudeness of our opponents is hard to understand even now. Either way, we want to express our gratitude towards the people who have been understanding and merciful, and call both sides to dialogue, not mutual condemnation.

We’d like to stress that we do not support violence, we have no grudges against anyone, our laughter is in some sense laughter through tears, and our sarcasm is a reaction to judicial lawlessness.

We ask both our defenders and those who are accusing us to be tactful, as painful and difficult as this may be.

Y. Samutsevich
N. Tolokonnikova
M. Alyokhina

Pussy Riot

Translation by theotherrussia.org.

From the editorial team at Gazeta.ru:

Abolishing Activity
July 23, 2012
Gazeta.ru

The Russian authorities are trying to make all forms of organized civil activity illegal. And they’re creating a surprise for themselves: when the first serious crisis hits, they’re going to find themselves up against entirely different forces – ones that come as if out of nowhere, unwilling to limit themselves to the bounds of the law, and indisposed to dialogue with the higher authorities.

Under pressure from the state, the opposition has now gone heavily on the defensive. The loud and confident calls heard not so long ago to renew civil society, to restructure the political order, and to find mutually acceptable forms of transition from the old system to the new one have since fallen silent.

By spewing out ultra-reactionary measures, the government has cut off political initiatives and forced its critics to focus on their own protection.

Protection, that is, from the upcoming show trials on the alleged mass riots on Bolotnaya Square and the inquisitional case against Pussy Riot; from the hysterical smear campaigns stylizing them as “enemies of the people;” from attempts to subject the internet to censorship and to label criticism of the authorities as “libel” and punish it as a criminal offense.

This reactionary wave has gathered momentum and become swamped with volunteers and seditionists alike – the outcasts of today’s government who hope that this troubled torrent will carry them into central positions. One Duma deputy proposed requalifying not only NGOs as “foreign agents,” but the media as well. Another one wants to introduce a criminal statute against “compromising morality,” so that nobody wants to arrange politically-tinted performances. Even the Public Chamber prepared a piece of legislation aimed at preventing the work of independent volunteers, the increase of whom has brought about the jealousy of the authorities.

If you combine all that’s already been done with what’s only just been planned, it comprises one insane project – the abolition of civil society in Russia. In reality, it’s impossible to do something like this right now, but it’s exactly what they’re dreaming about as an ideal.

The new law on rallies transforms marches that criticize the leadership either into something illegal and severely punishable or into an event completely under the control of that same leadership. The frightened NGOs are fighting over the state subsidies they’ve been promised and will become typical bureaucratic agencies. The internet will be stripped of everything that isn’t approved from on high. Critics will bite their lounges out of fear of “libeling” anybody. The “municipal filter” will exclude anyone from running for office except for those approved by the authorities ahead of time. A new, fatal law will be conjured for any sector of civil activity that still remains alive.

That’s exactly the trajectory. And even though it’s going to be only partially successful in the worst case scenario and won’t to drive people back into their kitchens, it’s easy to imagine some temporary freezes.

But here, two questions arise: who is going to suffer and what kind of social consequences are these reactionary freezes going to have, at least in the intermediate term.

The situation with the victims is clear. They are almost literally the same “angry townsfolk” who spent several months taunting the Kremlin with their protests. By some coincidence, the overwhelming majority of Russian civil activists belong to this crowd, including non-political ones – from city and environmental advocates to volunteers.

This petty but extremely punctual revenge on the part of the Kremlin is addressed, of course, first of all to those who “offended” it. But of course it works out so that the strike hits all types of civil activity and the entire civil collective.

This collective is almost entirely concentrated in large cities and most of all in Moscow. Its relatively small number of adherents gives the authorities the illusion that it is indeed possible to push it aside and forget about it.

In thinking that it should eliminate the tiresome and irritating opposition, the Kremlin is actually breaking with the part of society that is the most moderate, rational, law-abiding, and amenable to dialogue.

If the dream of the authorities comes true and the current civil collective is seriously compromised within the public realm, that realm is not going to remain empty. The newly-available space will be quickly taken up by different forces altogether, ones that appear instantaneously and spontaneously, who ignore any bans or government regulations, and who are not at all inclined to make compromises.

The public passivity of today’s ordinary Russian citizens is a fleeting and deceptive phenomenon, entirely unlike the trusting optimism of better times. Official surveys indicate that people have a very restrained or directly skeptical attitude towards the higher leadership. Any reckless social innovation could make this silence erupt into flashes of discontent, which will easily find spokesmen, and the fewer responsible ones there are, the more strongly disorganized and compromised the growing social stratus of political oppositionist activists will become.

The Russian people are waiting for the new old president to fulfill his campaign promises – a quick rise in the quality of life, or at least not its decline, which is what we actually face. Behind the nervousness with which the government shuffles and reshuffles its plans is a vague understanding that not one of these plans is going to work when considering the expectations of the masses.

The number of options left for the government is shrinking literally every month, and its current aggression against the country’s civil collective is worse than just the aggregate of reactionary and unlawful actions. It is a grave political mistake.

A report written by Yury Kostanov of the Independent Judicial Expertise Council was released today by the Presidential Council on the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.

“The actions that Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich and Alekhina are incriminated of are certainly at least reproachable, but they do not constitute criminally prosecutable hooliganism,” says the report.

The conclusion was reached after the experts analyzed the decree written by investigators announcing that the women were being charged and the lyrics to the song they performed in the Church of Christ the Savior – the event that sparked the investigation.

“After accusing Tolokonnikova, Samutsevich, and Alekhina of collectively committing the actions they are incriminated of by motivation of religious hatred and enmity, the investigator did not conclude that there were any grounds for this,” the report goes on to say.

“Judging by the lyrics of the song performed, the enmity expressed towards V. V. Putin and V. M. Gundyaev is not religious in nature. Religious hatred in the sense of article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation means hatred towards members of a certain religion precisely because of their religious leanings, an active rejection of religious ideals or an assertion of their own religion, or because of atheistic views. Presenting one’s views in a shocking way does not in and of itself constitute a manifestation of hatred towards the Christian (or any other) religion,” Kostanov wrote.

“The decree likely contains the investigator’s expression of judgment of the offense rather than a description of a way of committing a crime,” it concludes.

Yesterday, Moscow’s Tagansky Court extended the pre-trial detention of the three alleged members of Pussy Riot, who have already been held since March 2012. The three face up to seven years in prison for charges of “hooliganism.” Protests outside the court on Wednesday ended numerous arrests.

Originally scheduled to set off at 1:00 pm, lawyer Violetta Volkova said that police confiscated the bus driver’s documents and blocked the road with police cars, accusing the activists of holding an unsanctioned protest. Only late in the evening was the bus – whose riders insisted that they were holding an excursion, not a protest – allowed to proceed.

The bus, dubbed the Party Riot Bus, was decorated with drawings and posters in support of the all-female band. Participants included a variety of activists and journalists, including Pyotr Verzilov, husband of arrested group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and member of the anti-establishment art group Voina.

Three members of Pussy Riot were arrested after performing an anti-government prayer of sorts titled “Mother of God, Banish Putin” at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. According to Kasparov.ru, they face up to seven years in prison for “hooliganism.” A Facebook page in defense of the women says that the three arrestees do not actually admit to being members of the group, who as a rule wear colored masks during all of their performances.

Nikolai Polozov, lawyer for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot, said that when a group arrived at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior they found it unexpectedly locked with a sign saying the cathedral was closed for “technical reasons.” OMON riot police were stationed nearby.

A number of provocateurs soon arrived at the scene and began to verbally abuse the group and splashed water onto one of them. When the latter asked the police why they weren’t doing anything to respond to the abuse, the officer proposed that he get into a police bus to fill out a complaint. When the supporter declined, he was arrested.

“He’s being charged with an administrative offense – failing to obey police orders; and the one who poured the water onto him is now a witness,” Polozov explained.

At least three people were arrested during the incident.

The prayer session had been one of two planned actions in support of the two arrested Pussy Riot members in Moscow on Thursday, the second taking place outside of the Petrovka Police Station.

The two women were arrested on March 5 after staging an unannounced protest concert inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on February 21. The concert was broken up after only one song, titled “Mother of God, Banish Putin.”

Despite the fact that a spokesperson for the Russian Orthodox Church explicitly stated that he saw “no reason to keep these women detained,” and that the main thing was to make sure “everything happened according to the law,” Tolokonnikova was sentenced to 50 days in jail; Alekhina’s sentence is still to be determined.

According to Polozov, the arrests were made in part with participation by the Center for Extremism Prevention (Center “E”), a law enforcement body notorious for abusing oppositionists and other activists.