Update: On Monday 29th August, Pussy Riot's trial began on Moscow. If convicted of hooliganism, the three band members face up to seven years in prison.
Update: On Friday, 15th June, Vladimir Putin signed a new law that will increase fines 150-fold for those who participate in unsanctioned demonstrations. The new penalties would be crippling to most Russians, with fines ranging from £5,000 for an individual to £19,000 for companies. For those who cannot pay, the fine is to be replaced with mandatory labour of up to 200 hours.Detained members of Pussy Riot will remain jailed until their 24th June trial date.
Update: On 22nd May, Russia's lower house passed a draft bill that would increase the maximum fine for participation in an unsanctioned protest from 5,000 rubles (£100) to one million rubles (£20,300), while fines for organising an unsanctioned protest will rise from 50,000 rubles (£1000) to 1.5 million rubles (£30,500).
The detention of Russian punk-rock band Pussy Riot should put the country’s arbitrary use of the charge of hooliganism on the dock.
On February 21st, the group stormed the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and performed a “punk prayer” sending calls of “Blessed Virgin, drive Putin away!” echoing through its gilded domes. The act caused an outcry among Orthodox believers and less than a month after the impromptu gig three alleged members of the group had been arrested.
Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samucevich now face up to seven years in prison under a charge of hooliganism—a threat that haunts Moscow’s nascent opposition movement.
Ten days after the initial arrests, Olga Allenova, a journalist working for the liberal business daily newspaper Kommersant, wrote:
“I am a person of liberal views, but this action [by Pussy Riot] has angered me…[Yet] in my opinion, it is worth limiting administrative detention and letting the women go home to their children. Then this episode will be forgotten in a couple of days.”
That was written more than two months ago. Last month a Moscow court ruled that the women could be held in detention until 24th June as they “could become the targets of criminal acts.”
Few in Russia give much credence to the idea that they are being held in jail for their own protection. Yet with police appearing to launch a crackdown on street protests following Vladimir Putin’s inauguration there are growing concerns that the band could become a model for dealing with high-profile dissent.
Under these circumstances it is worth looking more closely at Article 213 of the Russian criminal code.
Hooliganism, the law states, is a “gross violation of public order, expressing a clear disrespect for society.” So far so vague. But it gets more complex.
A person found guilty of the charge can currently be fined between 300k-500k rubles (£6000-£10,000), made to do community service or sentenced to hard labour/imprisonment for up to five years. If, however, they are found to have been involved in a “prior conspiracy or an organized group or associated with resistance to a representative of authority” they could face a fine of up to one million rubles or seven years in prison.
The degree of ambiguity within the legislation has become a focal point of worry for the womens’ supporters, and indeed for the broader group of protest participants. There are already signs that the government is willing to use the legal system in an attempt to undermine the protests. Tomorrow, deputies in the State Duma are due to debate a law that would increase fines for unsanctioned protests by as much as 900 times their current level and include community service orders for offenders for the first time.
A survey taken last month by VTsIOM, a state-run public opinion research centre, showed the majority of Russians polled believed the alleged band members should only pay a fine. It remains to be seen whether the authorities will be swayed by public opinion or decide instead to use the Pussy Riot case as a warning to oppositionists in the capital.
But will a harsher law silence public dissent where brute force could not? Recent protests against Putin's third term have shown a public unafraid to speak its mind, however violent the consequences. Pushing for a harsh sentence certainly makes an example of Pussy Riot, but it may be more trouble than it's worth. If the authorities get their way it will not be Pussy Riot that is on trial, but the law itself.
Update: On Friday, 15th June, Vladimir Putin signed a new law that will increase fines 150-fold for those who participate in unsanctioned demonstrations. The new penalties would be crippling to most Russians, with fines ranging from £5,000 for an individual to £19,000 for companies. For those who cannot pay, the fine is to be replaced with mandatory labour of up to 200 hours.Detained members of Pussy Riot will remain jailed until their 24th June trial date.
Update: On 22nd May, Russia's lower house passed a draft bill that would increase the maximum fine for participation in an unsanctioned protest from 5,000 rubles (£100) to one million rubles (£20,300), while fines for organising an unsanctioned protest will rise from 50,000 rubles (£1000) to 1.5 million rubles (£30,500).
The detention of Russian punk-rock band Pussy Riot should put the country’s arbitrary use of the charge of hooliganism on the dock.
On February 21st, the group stormed the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and performed a “punk prayer” sending calls of “Blessed Virgin, drive Putin away!” echoing through its gilded domes. The act caused an outcry among Orthodox believers and less than a month after the impromptu gig three alleged members of the group had been arrested.
Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samucevich now face up to seven years in prison under a charge of hooliganism—a threat that haunts Moscow’s nascent opposition movement.
Ten days after the initial arrests, Olga Allenova, a journalist working for the liberal business daily newspaper Kommersant, wrote:
“I am a person of liberal views, but this action [by Pussy Riot] has angered me…[Yet] in my opinion, it is worth limiting administrative detention and letting the women go home to their children. Then this episode will be forgotten in a couple of days.”
That was written more than two months ago. Last month a Moscow court ruled that the women could be held in detention until 24th June as they “could become the targets of criminal acts.”
Few in Russia give much credence to the idea that they are being held in jail for their own protection. Yet with police appearing to launch a crackdown on street protests following Vladimir Putin’s inauguration there are growing concerns that the band could become a model for dealing with high-profile dissent.
Under these circumstances it is worth looking more closely at Article 213 of the Russian criminal code.
Hooliganism, the law states, is a “gross violation of public order, expressing a clear disrespect for society.” So far so vague. But it gets more complex.
A person found guilty of the charge can currently be fined between 300k-500k rubles (£6000-£10,000), made to do community service or sentenced to hard labour/imprisonment for up to five years. If, however, they are found to have been involved in a “prior conspiracy or an organized group or associated with resistance to a representative of authority” they could face a fine of up to one million rubles or seven years in prison.
The degree of ambiguity within the legislation has become a focal point of worry for the womens’ supporters, and indeed for the broader group of protest participants. There are already signs that the government is willing to use the legal system in an attempt to undermine the protests. Tomorrow, deputies in the State Duma are due to debate a law that would increase fines for unsanctioned protests by as much as 900 times their current level and include community service orders for offenders for the first time.
A survey taken last month by VTsIOM, a state-run public opinion research centre, showed the majority of Russians polled believed the alleged band members should only pay a fine. It remains to be seen whether the authorities will be swayed by public opinion or decide instead to use the Pussy Riot case as a warning to oppositionists in the capital.
But will a harsher law silence public dissent where brute force could not? Recent protests against Putin's third term have shown a public unafraid to speak its mind, however violent the consequences. Pushing for a harsh sentence certainly makes an example of Pussy Riot, but it may be more trouble than it's worth. If the authorities get their way it will not be Pussy Riot that is on trial, but the law itself.
