Pussy Riot’s Diana Burkot responds to eight-year sentencing in Russia: “Fortunately, they have no access to my physical body”
In a statement provided to Far Out, Pussy Riot‘s Diana Burkot has responded after being sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia by a Russian court, and encouraged “every person in this world to use their voice”.
Five Pussy Riot members, who all currently live outside of Russia, were sentenced to between eight and 13 years in prison at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow after being found guilty of anti-war charges related to two incidents.
Per Mediazona, the first charge against the band’s Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova relates to the prosecutors deeming them to have spread “false information” about the Russian military killing Ukrainian civilians in their 2022 music video for ‘Mama, Don’t Watch TV’.
Their second offence related to a performance at the Munich Pinakothek der Moderne, involving Maria Alyokhina, Alina Petrova and Taso Pletner. One member of the band, Pletner, urinated on a photo of Vladimir Putin during the concert.
Alyokhina received the heaviest sentence, with prosecutor Vladimir Nagaitsev requesting that she be sentenced to 13 years in prison in absentia. Pletner was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison, meanwhile, Burkot, Olga Borisova, and Alina Petrova have been sentenced to eight years in absentia.
In a statement shared with Far Out through a representative, Burkot said of the sentencing: Today, a Russian court sentenced me to 8 years in a penal colony under the so-called “law on fakes about the army,” for the music video “Mama, Don’t Watch TV.” It sounds like joke. This video is our anti-war statement. I am the author of the music, I perform the “slogans-chants,” I acting in the video and I also directed the editing.”
Burkot then said, “I stand by every single word” and reiterated that her “anti-war stance is clear”. She then alleged: “The paradox is that rapists and murderers in Russia get 3–4 years, sometimes spending less than a year in prison before signing a military contract, killing Ukrainians and then they return freely into society, with PTSD, and may end up back in prison for yet another killing. Is this cycle of violence the new norm in Russia? Meanwhile, activists receive monstrous sentences for their opinions.”
The Pussy Riot member then said of her sentencing, “8 years for freedom of speech. Freedom of speech or freedom of religion — as if such concepts don’t exist in Russia any more.”
Burkot then shared her grievances with the Russian Orthodox Church, adding, “Maybe I am an atheist. in my view that’s better than believing Patriarch Kirill — yet another tyrant at the top of the Russian Orthodox Church, who now bless weapons and soldiers for the war in Ukraine.”
She also said of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war, “The full-scale war against Ukraine has been going on for more than three years. And I continue to believe: Ukraine must win, and Putin must face trial in The Hague.”
Burkot then criticised the Russian government: “The Russian government is a textbook example of patriarchy — the worst kind of abuser: a tyrant, a narcissist, a gaslighter, a toxic manipulator who lives off the destruction of others’ will.”
The musician then passionately encouraged others to speak up, stating, “I sincerely and passionately wish every person in this world to use their voice. Activists are not some kind of “heroes” with criminal cases. Every single person matters. The collective matters. Activism now is needed like daily practice, because only together can we resist and overcome the crisis of democracy.”
Burkot concluded by writing, “Fortunately, they have no access to my physical body. And even if I were in Russia, I would say the same thing: go fuck yourself.”
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