Pussy Riot, Greenpeace Activists Free As Part Of Putin’s Russian Amnesty
The Pussy Riot punk rock members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina and Green Peace activists may go free as part of Putin’s Russian amnesty program.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Pussy Riot’s Russian jail sentence of two years all started with a little bit of “hooliganism.”
The band members were taken into custody after staging a flash mob performance inside the sprawling Christ the Savior cathedral during which they denounced Russia’s Orthodox Church for backing Vladimir Putin, who was elected Russia’s president shortly thereafter. The Russian Orthodox Church was forgiving, and even requested clemency for Pussy Riot, but Putin’s government… not so much.
Two members eventually escaped from Russia and another was freed by the courts, but several members remained jailed despite the support of even the Russian Prime Minister. Eventually, the remaining two members of Pussy Riot were sent to a Soviet-era prison camp after losing their appeal in the courts. To make matters worse, they were denied parole after serving a year in jail.
That’s when Pussy Riot began a hunger strike to protest their allegedly poor treatment and death threats. Shortly later, in an ironic twist Vladimir Putin was given the Nobel peace price right before one of the members “disappeared” during a prison transfer. Things began to get so bad in Russia that one artist nailed his testicles to the ground in protest.
Finally, on December 18, the Russian amnesty adopted by their Parliament meant the last two members of Pussy Riot would finally find their freedom. Although their prison sentences would have only last several months more into 2014, it seems they’ll be celebrating a Merry Christmas since they should be released as early as tomorrow. In addition, 30 people charged with hooliganism for participating in a Greenpeace protest may be included in the Russian amnesty if the law is amended to include those who are facing trial and haven’t yet been convicted.
