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Pussy Riot and Russia's surreal 'justice'
CNN ^ | 08/17/12 | Rachel Denber

Posted on 08/17/2012 4:22:14 PM PDT by BurningOak

Moscow (CNN) -- There is no basic human right to barge into a church to make a political statement, jump around near the altar, and shout obscenities. But there is most certainly the right not to lose your liberty for doing so, even if the act is offensive.

But that is exactly what happened Friday. A court in Moscow sentenced the three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison.

In my two decades monitoring human rights in Russia I've never seen anything like the Pussy Riot case -- the media attention, the outpouring of public support, the celebrity statements for the detained and criminally charged punk band members.

The image of three young women facing down an inexorable system of unfair justice and an oppressive state has crystallized for many in the West what is wrong with human rights in Russia. To be sure, it is deeply troubling.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: freedomofspeech; putin; russia; tyranny
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To: BurningOak; a fool in paradise; Slings and Arrows

81 posted on 08/17/2012 8:01:45 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong!)
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To: cunning_fish

Good research. After watching those videos, now the two-year sentence seems too light.


82 posted on 08/17/2012 8:05:00 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: BurningOak; dfwgator

Winter is coming....watch yer back

Squirrels have your number


83 posted on 08/17/2012 8:09:32 PM PDT by wardaddy (this white hair don't cover up my redneck......)
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To: Navy Patriot
Damn right

And he has balls

Looks good bare chested to be old

Loves young girls

Scares the shit out of Islamic separatists

Broke up the appartchik oy vey in name only Mafia and replaced it with loyalists of his own

And is willing to preserve Russian culture.....he gets it

While we let ours be destroyed before our eyes

You could do worse for a nationalist would be autocrat

He will parole them in 6 months or less.....

84 posted on 08/17/2012 8:16:55 PM PDT by wardaddy (this white hair don't cover up my redneck......)
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To: dfwgator; Honorary Serb; Navy Patriot; donna
Thanks!

I've been several times in the church in question (Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow). It took 47 years to build (1836-1883), like many other major cathedrals around the world. It could easily hold 10,000 to 20,000 people standing inside (no seats, of course). And our services last at least 2 hours.

It was built to honor the memory of those who fell defending Christian civilization against Napoleon in the War of 1812, and in fact Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was written to be premiered for the dedication of the church.

As a symbol of the religious spirit of the nation, it stood a short distance from the Kremlin, which itself has some amazing churches dating from the late 1400s. It was destroyed in 1931 on order of Stalin (non-Russian, atheist) because of his hatred of Orthodox Christianity and of the Russian nation.

After being rebuilt 1995-2000, it has been the visible symbol of a resurgent Russian Orthodox Church which has over 100,000,000 adherents, and there have been several instances when religious processions numbering 250,000 have started from the grounds.

This whole performance and uproar is not just 3 innocent young women expressing their opinion and being unjustly persecuted. It is the deliberate introduction of demonic forces into a sacred space for the purpose of harming the spiritual peace of a sanctuary. Just as Stalin destroyed its "body" in 1931, these people wish to destroy its "soul".

85 posted on 08/18/2012 2:55:42 AM PDT by wildandcrazyrussian
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To: BurningOak

But it is NOT there to cause disruptions to church services.

It would be the same if it happened in a Church of England service and the protestors thought the Church was an arm of the government. While 2 yrs is a bit harsh, I get the impression this is not their first rodeo, protest-wise.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood is crucifying people on the streets. Our State Department can’t seem to muster up much moral outrage over that.....but some punks? On it like white on rice.


86 posted on 08/18/2012 5:42:03 AM PDT by Adder (Da bro has GOT to go!)
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To: Ken H

I don’t consider laws against trespass, or disrupting a private meeting, to be hate crime laws.

Go join your buddy Fred Phelps and his cult at Westboro. Sounds like you’d fit right in.


87 posted on 08/18/2012 6:42:53 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: Tired of Taxes
arrested on charges of "hooliganism fueled by religious hatred"

Guilty as Charged

Penalty enhancers for Desecration of Music and Fashion should be applied.

I read the translated women's post verdict statements yesterday. I was struck and amused by the irony with which they quoted the very scriptures they mock in their defense.

Then they allude to themselves as Martyrs. Laughable . . .
88 posted on 08/18/2012 7:14:19 AM PDT by BraveMan
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To: PGR88

Too late. Hillary is already pumping money into this. The Pussy Riot support campaign is spearheaded by one Oksana Chelysheva, who is a member of the board of the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum, a member of the Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, and Deputy Executive Director of the Helsinki-based Russian-Chechen Friendship Society Forum - all NED and Soros funded organizations. Now you wonder why these organizations are so ubiquitous - because Obama has spent at least a billion dollars on “democracy promotion” in Russia alone, and the people who work at them are paid handsomely according to some eastern European friends of mine.


89 posted on 08/18/2012 7:44:51 AM PDT by tovarich
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To: BraveMan

lol... After watching their video, my teenaged son commented that they should get another five years just for calling themselves a “band.”

Where did you read their post verdict statements?


90 posted on 08/18/2012 8:02:51 AM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: PAR35
I don’t consider laws against trespass, or disrupting a private meeting, to be hate crime laws.

Neither do I, but that's not what this is about, now is it. It's about going to prison for 'inciting religious hatred'. So do you want such laws here in the US?

If so, then you can join your buddies in the UN.

91 posted on 08/18/2012 9:05:36 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: PAR35
I don’t consider laws against trespass, or disrupting a private meeting, to be hate crime laws.

Neither do I, but that's not what this is about, now is it. It's about going to prison for 'inciting religious hatred'. So do you want such laws here in the US?

If so, then you can join your buddies in the UN.

92 posted on 08/18/2012 9:05:36 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: wildandcrazyrussian

Thank you for the inside story.


93 posted on 08/18/2012 12:07:40 PM PDT by donna (Republicans wont change their ways until conservatives draw the line.)
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To: BurningOak

They have desecrated church, I think that sentence was too mild.


94 posted on 08/18/2012 3:51:39 PM PDT by kronos77 (Kosovo is Serbian Jerusalem. No Serbia without Kosovo.)
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To: Tired of Taxes
http://nplusonemag.com/pussy-riot-closing-statements
95 posted on 08/19/2012 4:37:05 AM PDT by BraveMan
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To: All

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova


Maria Alyokhina

Yekaterina Samutsevich


96 posted on 08/19/2012 5:45:48 AM PDT by BraveMan
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To: BraveMan

LOL. After reading their statements (thanks for the link), those pictures are probably how they see themselves.


97 posted on 08/19/2012 8:44:37 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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