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.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: free speech, protests, pussy riot, russia, vladimir putin
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
"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"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Earlier post linked to broken link
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/cats020514.html
That gives me a 404. Please fix.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Religion is a bitch
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I was thinking it should say 'being as central or as important as the US pretends it does'
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
This is terrible! Free Pussy! Riot!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Religion is a bitch
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Free speech in the US?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Free speech in the US?
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This is batshit insanity here, that someone is being put into prison for a song.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98004&page=1#.UC6EVKllTzY
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: And why Assange and Pussy Riot matter
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-bradl ey-manning/Content?oid=14460991
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
It does! Remember, corporations are people too!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
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
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Funny story, that...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Fixed that for you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
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?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Speech is one thing - however...
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".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The sad thing is, exactly the same rhetoric are used now in case of Wikileaks.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Why the quotation marks?
Thanks for putting those words in quotation marks. Very fitting.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I know there is a joke in here somewhere.
I am just to dumb to see it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Free speech in the US?
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Putin vs Medvedev
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?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Thank goodness these criminals can no longer roam the streets causing mass mayhem and destruction.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: And why Assange and Pussy Riot matter
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: And why Assange and Pussy Riot matter
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Religion is a bitch
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Free speech in the US?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Speech is one thing - however...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Speech is one thing - however...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Why the quotation marks?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Putin vs Medvedev
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Religion is a bitch
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
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Religion is a bitch
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Free speech in the US?
that's after having been cuffed tazed, maced and beaten.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Earlier post linked to broken link
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
"You can't put a guy in jail for singing a song!"
"For anti-Koopa songs we can."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Religion is a bitch
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: asylum
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
They'd get that - and maybe more - in Canada. It's a criminal offence to make a disturbance in a church in Canada.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It has nothing to do with a free speach
By the way, some European countries have similar laws. Someone can get three years of jail time for doing similar show in Germany.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: It has nothing to do with a free speach
Canada, too.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pussy retards
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Pussy retards
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Pussy retards
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pussy Riot belongs in jail
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.
[ link to this | view in thread ]