19 February 2014

Pussy Riot Members Detained In Sochi (UPDATED) & VIDEOS: Pussy Riot 'Whipped' By Cossacks Patrolling Sochi Winter Olympics & Video Pussy Riot whipped by Cossack in Sochi performance 18&19FEB14

I was not impressed with Pussy Riot's protest in Moscow's main Russian Orthodox Cathedral a few years ago. I would have been more sympathetic if they had not included obscene gestures and language. Yes, the Church was and is wrong in supporting putin and his grab of power resulting in his dictatorship, but the building is a house of worship and should be considered sacred and should be respected, as should all places of worship. There is no excuse for the persecution of and attacks on Pussy Riot by Russian authorities in Sochi, especially beating them with horse whips. putin and his administration are a gang thugs, and it would seem they are intent on increasing the repression of human rights a la hitler, stalin, mao, and deng xiaoping, to name a few of too many recent leaders. We should be afraid for and pray for the people of Russia.
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Two members of the punk group Pussy Riot ran out of a police station in their trademark garish balaclavas Tuesday after being released following several hours of questioning in Sochi, the host city of the Winter Olympics.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, along with seven others, were detained by police near Sochi's ferry terminal, a popular area for fans celebrating the Olympics, and taken to a police station for questioning.
Police said they were questioned in connection with a theft at the hotel where they were staying. No charges were filed.
Tolokonnikova said the detention was the latest in a series of harassments against the group since Sunday. She said they had been detained for several hours on the previous two days.
"We members of Pussy Riot have been here since late Sunday and we were constantly detained since then," Tolokonnikova said after her release. "We are constantly surrounded by people, not you journalists, but people who are shadowing us, following our every move and looking for any excuse to detain us."
Pussy Riot gained international attention in 2012 after barging into Moscow's main cathedral and performing a "punk prayer" in which they entreated the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin, who was on the verge of returning to the Russian presidency.
Tolokonnikova and Alekhina were sentenced to two years in prison, but were released in December under an amnesty bill.
Earlier Tuesday, Tolokonnikova wrote on her Twitter account that "At the moment of detention, we were not conducting any actions, we were walking in Sochi."
"We are in Sochi with the goal of staging a Pussy Riot protest. The song is called 'Putin will teach you to love the motherland,'" she wrote.
She also said that police had shoved her and other detainees and that the group would file a complaint about their treatment to Russia's Investigative Committee.
Pussy Riot, a performance-art collective which edits its actions into music videos, has become an international flashpoint for those who contend Putin's government has exceeded its authority in dealing with an array of issues, notably human and gay rights.
Since their release in December, they have made many appearances overseas to push their campaign for improved conditions in Russia's prisons. Alekhina and Tolokonnikova recently visited the U.S. to take part in an Amnesty International concert.
The area where the group members were detained is in downtown Sochi, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the seaside Olympic venues.
Russia has put severe limitations on protests in Sochi during the Olympics, ordering that any demonstration must get approval and be held only in the neighborhood of Khosta, an area between Adler and downtown Sochi that is unlikely to be visited by outsiders.
Russia's suppression of protests has been widely denounced in the West and the Pussy Riot detentions brought renewed criticism.
"In Putin's Russia, the authorities have turned the Olympic rings - a worldwide symbol of hope and striving for the best of the human spirit - into handcuffs to shackle freedom of expression," John Dalhuisen, Europe director for Amnesty International, said in a statement.
The actions taken against Pussy Riot came a day after an Italian transgender activist and former lawmaker was detained at the Olympics. Vladimir Luxuria was stopped while carrying a rainbow flag that read in Russian: "Gay is OK." On Sunday, Luxuria said she was held by police and told not to wear clothing with slogans promoting gay rights.
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Associated Press writer Jim Heintz contributed to this report.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/18/pussy-riot-detained_n_4807679.html

Pussy Riot Whipped By Cossack Militia In Sochi To Stop Performance (VIDEO)

After a fairly tame first 10 days of the Olympic Games -- at least by Russian protest standards -- members of Pussy Riot were briefly detained Tuesday in connection with a theft in their hotel. The highest-profile members of the punk rock collective, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, were freed along with seven others after questioning by police.
Within 24 hours, however, the anti-Putin protesters staged an impromptu performance. Six band members, including one man, donned their signature ski masks and took to the streets of Sochi. But before the show even began, several Cossack militia members stifled the music, with one appearing to pepper spray Tolokonnikova and another beating several women with a horse whip, according to the Associated Press.
The Cossacks continued their violent attack, throwing Tolokonnikova to the ground, tearing the balaclavas from several women, beating them with whips and ripping the guitarist's instrument from his hands to toss it in the trash. Cossacks have a long history in Russia, helping lead the country's imperial expansion by serving in the cavalry under czarist rule, according to The Washington Post. They have reemerged in southern Russia after nearly disappearing in the communist era.
Alekhina tweeted a photo of a bloodied man who participated in the protest, with a deep cut over his left eye:
View image on Twitter

Мария Алехина @MashaAlekhina Follow

У одного из членов #pussyriot рассечена бровь после нападения казаков. Газовые балоны, хлысты. Полиция не реагировала

7:36 AM - 19 Feb 2014

She also posted photos of an apparently bruised Tolokonnikova and her own cracked and bloodied fingernail:

View image on Twitter

Мария Алехина @MashaAlekhina Follow

Дубинки казаков на груди @tolokno . #любитьродину

7:53 AM - 19 Feb 2014

Мария Алехина @MashaAlekhina Follow

Есть еще рассеченный палец. Безопасность в Сочи.

7:58 AM - 19 Feb 2014

A number of media members witnessed the attack, recording video of the violent scrum. Pussy Riot's lawyer, Alexander Popkov, told USA Today Sports that three members of the group were hospitalized to treat their injuries. They had chosen the location to film a music video, Popkov told the American paper.
Pussy Riot came to international prominence in 2012 after staging a protest performance Moscow's main cathedral and performing a "punk prayer" against returning Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tolokonnikova and Alekhina were arrested and sentenced to two years in prison, but were released in December under a new amnesty bill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/pussy-riot-whipped-cossack_n_4815475.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Published on Feb 19, 2014

Members of Pussy Riot have claimed they were attacked with whips as they tried to perform a song in Sochi.

"Under the banner Sochi 2014, to the sound of "Putin will teach us to love the homeland", Cossacks attacked Pussy Riot, beat us with whips and sprayed a lot of pepper gas at us," Nadezhda Tolokonnikova wrote on Twitter.

Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, who served prison sentences over a protest in a church against President Vladimir Putin, were detained on suspicion of theft in Sochi on Tuesday but were later released.

Cossack patrolmen are being used to enforce security around the Olympic Games. They are meant to maintain order and work with police to make arrests.
http://youtu.be/eiw0fw_sJOk