#pussyriot Vow to Continue Protest as One of the Members is Freed

Yekaterina Samutsevich, member of Pussy Riot freed yesterday has vowed to continue her efforts to protest Putin’s regime.

She was released yesterday with a suspended sentence because she had been stopped from performing the group’s ‘Punk Prayer’ in opposition to president Vladimir Putin last February.

“We are not finished, nor are we going to end our political protest,” Samutsevich said to the world media.

“The situation in the country has deteriorated since our performance and the trial itself is a testimony to that.”

She added: “We have to act in such a way that they do not learn about concerts ahead of time… and arrest us.”

Samutsevich’s bandmates Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina remain in prison as the court upheld the pair’s two-year sentence for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.

The three girls were charged after performing a punk prayer calling for the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.

Russian Prime Minister Medvedev recently suggested that the trio be released from prison.

“In my view, a suspended sentence would be sufficient, taking into account the time they have already spent in custody,” he told a televised meeting with his United Russia party in the city of Penza, The AP reports.

Other members of the group have issued a statement thanking their supporters, including Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Björk and Green Day.

“We repent but do not hold any remorse as I believe we have done nothing wrong”, Tolokonnikova

A Moscow City Court judge hearing an appeal against the conviction of Pussy Riot punk band members on Wednesday stopped Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s speech involving politics as inappropriate and irrelevant to the case.

While presenting her arguments against her conviction, Tolokonnikova tried to comment on President Vladimir Putin’s political activities, but the judge stopped her and asked her to sit down.

“It is as clear as noonday that our performance at the Christ the Savior Cathedral was political rather than anti-religious. I have no religious hatred, and none of us had it in our performance,” Tolokonnikova said.

She insisted that there is a difference between repentance and remorse.

“Repentance as a personal act is acceptable to us, but remorse is not, because this would mean that we acknowledge our guilt. It is impossible to feel remorse for something you did not do,” Tolokonnikova said.

She once again apologized for hurting believers’ feelings.

Posted by Anomalous on Oct 11 2012. Filed under freedom of speech, Human Rights, Latest News, Political Art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry