Pussy Riot Jailed.

In Russia three women from a band calling themselves "Pussy Riot!" have been convicted of hooliganism (similar to Section 5 UK Public Order Act 1986) and sentenced to 2 years in prison after storming in to a Russian Orthodox Christian Cathedral and disrupting a religious service by performing what they describe as 'a punk prayer' to the Virgin Mary calling for an end to President Vladimir Putin's term in office.

The important thing to remember is that although this event took place in Russia and all the participants were Russian the band's name "Pussy Riot!" is in English through their choice. In English/American language slang the word "Pussy" can refer to either a house cat, female genitalia or someone who is generally cowardly or non-threatening. The term "Riot" can only refer to a disorderly assembly/violent protest. Therefore the term "Pussy Riot" could refer to a not in any way violent or threatening political protest. When you compare this sort of 'pussy riot' to the way that anti-Putin protests have been policed in Russia it raises all sorts of questions about whether Russian laws are too restrictive, the police too violent and the political system too corrupt. By putting the "Pussy Riot" women on trial Putin has brought these questions to a wider audience. That shouldn't really come as much of a surprise though because if you read his recent essays about the problems within Russia you'll find that Putin is pretty much the ideological father of the anti-Putin protests which is a very Russian way of doing things. It also serves as a timely reminder to everyone (Libyas and Syrians included) that systemic problems can never be solved by the removal of one man.

Speaking as things that should come as no surprise the "Pussy Riot" women were convicted because they were proved to have committed the offence and genuinely offended many Russians. What was a surprise though was the length of the sentence because most people were expecting them to be sentenced to a year and then shown clemency and freed on time already served (5 months) because two of the women do have young children. What caused all the problems though was celebrities like that sl*t Madonna imposing their egos on what is essentially a Russian problem leaving the Court with no choice other then to increase the sentence in order to avoid looking weak. Hopefully what will happen now is that the women will appeal their sentences and the Russians will grant clemency because while they have caused offence I'm not sure they've caused two years in prison worth of offence.

16:55 on 17/8/12.