'Set them free': Sting calls for Pussy Riot release from 'appalling' detention

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Published time: July 25, 2012 20:02
Edited time: July 26, 2012 01:45

Sting doesn’t want members of the Pussy Riot punk group to continue spending their time “looking at the walls of a prison cell.” He has joined advocates from other bands in calling on Russian authorities to release them.

­The 60-year old veteran musician, currently on tour in Russia, issued a statement that was published on Amnesty International’s website.

“It's appalling that the musicians from Pussy Riot could face prison sentences of up to seven years in jail,” Sting stated, noting that dissent is a legitimate and essential right in any democracy, and that modern politicians have to tolerate this fact.

He added that a sense of proportion – and a sense of humor – is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness.

“Surely the Russian authorities will completely drop these spurious charges and allow the women, these artists, to get back to their lives and to their children,” the musician said. 

He joins an array of performers and public figures who have slammed Pussy Riot’s continued detention behind bars.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand also expressed their solidarity with Pussy Riot during their Sunday concerts in Moscow. Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis wore a shirt with “Pussy Riot” emblazoned on it, while Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos dedicated a song to the jailed Russian punk band members.

Three members of Pussy Riot, a feminist punk ensemble, were arrested in March following an incident at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in February. Three balaclava-clad women performed “Mother of God Send Putin Away” – a profanity-laden and prayer-resembling song assailing Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church.

They were arrested on charges of “hooliganism on the grounds of religious hatred” and could face up to seven years in prison. Last week a Moscow court extended their stay in custody until January 2013, by which time they will have spent ten months behind bars.  

Public opinion on the case has been split. Some argue that the women’s actions intentionally targeted the religious feelings of Russians and believe they deserve a harsh punishment. Others say the charges are overblown for an act of political protest.

The head of the Moscow-Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest human rights organization, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, says that Pussy Riot should not only be released from jail, but should also receive an apology.

“They must receive compensation for the time they’ve spent in custody,” Alekseyeva added. “Is it sane to keep people under arrest for such a petty offence? Even more so given some of them have small children.”

Dozens of leading Russian intellectuals and artists signed a petition last month calling for Pussy Riot’s release on bail, and the substitution of criminal charges with administrative ones.

“The girls didn’t murder anyone, didn’t rob or use violence, didn’t damage or steal anyone’s property,” the letter stressed. “Russia is a secular state, and no anti-clerical action can be reason for a criminal prosecution, unless it violates the criminal code.”

Some have resorted to more radical forms of protest against the imprisonment of the trio.

On Monday, Saint Petersburg artist Pyotr Pavlensky paraded through the city’s Kazansky Cathedral with his mouth sewn shut. He also carried a placard saying Pussy Riot’s February performance was a “remake of a famed Jesus Christ deed”, referring not to the New Testament, but to the 1973 Jesus Christ Superstar musical.

Two weeks ago, a 22-year old woman dressed in Pussy Riot garb spent an hour on a cross next to Saint-Petersburg’s famous Church of the Savior on the Blood.