Pussy Riot labelled as extremist organisation in Russia
Pussy Riot have been labelled as an extremist organisation in Russia, with officials in the country having banned its activities.
The art collective were classified as an extremist group on December 15th by the Ministry of Justice in the Tverskoy Court in Moscow, after their series of outspoken incidents against the Russian government.
The judge who presided over the ruling was Judge Maria Moskalenko, who has a history with the members of Pussy Riot as well as other political prisoners, including Alexei Navalny.
Pussy Riot being labelled as an extremist organisation comes as the latest in a run of actions put out against the group by the Russian government, including each of their members being sentenced to prison in absentia back in September.
With regards to the latest ruling, members of the art collective made an extensive statement. Its founder, Nadya Tolokonnikova, said: “When I was tried for the punk prayer, facing seven years in a labour camp, I told the judge and prosecutors that I was still freer than they would ever be. Today, exiled from my own country, I still feel the same.”
She continued: “I can say what I think about Putin — that he is an aging sociopath spreading his venom around the world like cancer. In today’s Russia, telling the truth is extremism. So be it – we’re proud extremists, then.”
Speaking of the mantra of Pussy Riot, Tolokonnikova added: “We wear masks because you cannot stamp out an idea. Putin may kill his opponents, but the world still does support truth, progress and justice over the delusional deeds of old decrepit men. The just people of this world stand with democracy, with the sovereignty of Ukraine, with freedom of expression and with a spirit of punk that is to stand up to the bad guy, even when he’s the one with more bombs.”
Additionally, fellow member Alexey Knedlyakovsky described the classification as an “important event” as, “It can mean only one thing: I was extremely right to choose this path — the path of traditional human values: freedom, love, and equality.”
It comes as five members of the band – Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova – were charged with spreading “false information” about the killing of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers in the music video for their 2022 song, ‘Mama, Don’t Watch TV’.
A further offence involved Alyokhina, Petrova, and Pletner during a performance at the Munich Pinakothek der Moderne, where the latter allegedly urinated on a photo of Putin during the concert.
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