Proposal of Pussy Riot for the Sakharov-Prize

Proposal of WERNER SCHULZ/ group Greens/EFA

Proposal of Pussy Riot for the Sakharov-Prize

as represented by: NadezhdaAndreyevna Tolokonnikova / Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina (PussyRiot)

Through a courageous, spectacular and creative performance in the Cathedral of Christthe Saviour in Moscow on 21 February 2012, the three artists from the bandsucceeded in giving voice to the pent up political criticism of the autocratic power system in Russia and of the blurring of the lines between that system and the Russian Orthodox Church, in a setting where it was bound to have an impact.

The acts of protest and the arrest of these three young women, taken with theconditions of their detention – which border on torture – and their sentencing to two years in a labour camp, have done far more to focus the world's attention on the unscrupulous restriction of civil rights and the absence of the rule of law in Russia than did the earlier murders of journalists or thewealth of new, repressive laws. The band provoked the system of "managed democracy" to the point of unmasking itself: President Putin's statements, suggesting that the women had learned their lesson and indicating that he was expecting a mild sentence stand as evidence of the arbitrary administration of justiceand make clear who the highest judge in Russia really is.

The women are accused of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred", although there is no indication of that to be found in the video of their Punk Prayer or the accompanying text describing the political motives for the performance.Their imploring punk prayer: "Mother of God, o Virgin, drive Putin out!" is of a piece with the slogan "Russia without Putin", chanted by thousands at the mass demonstrations before the presidential elections. Their performance was not aimed at the religion: on the contrary, it picks up on a tradition within the Russian Orthodox Church of uttering a quick prayer to Mother Mary in thehope that she will help ward off evil. The target of the band's protest wasPresident Putin, who is venerated by the Church's clergy like a heaven-sentsaint, and the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, who called onbelievers to vote for this president and to stay away from the protests.

The three women are the subjects of an unparalleled smear campaign in Russia's state-runand toe-the-line media which amounts to a modern witch hunt. The stateprosecutor claimed that they were possessed by demons and had performed adevilish dance in the Church! This ignores both the artistic aspect of the political performance and the fact that radical forms of protest are necessaryat a time when the Russian state is shifting noticeably back towards totalitarianism and it is difficult make oneself heard to rouse people to resist. While many are disappointed and have opted for internal exile, Pussy Riot has protested publically and effectively against paternalism, perpetualcontrol, hypocrisy and small-minded morality. Their shrill prayer reflects the secret desire of many that Russia should free itself at long last from thePutin regime and his secret service caste.

The EU has been working to find a common set of values with Russia for years and Russia has entered into international commitments along those lines, but this case shines a spotlight on the blatant discrepancies between pretension andreality. We find in the court's decision the untenable assertion that feminism contributes to religious hate. Here we hear the disquieting consonance between the Kremlin and the clergy, and their intent to denigrate the successes ofWestern emancipation and prevent them from penetrating further into Russian society.

This affair offers a telling example of how Russia is sliding backward into archaic times: justified criticism of chief priests, scribes and Pharisees is dismissed as blasphemy, its utterers persecuted, much as Jesus of Nazareth experienced long ago. Yet, Pussy Riot has fearlessly and creatively championed values embodied by Andrei Sakharov: freedom of thought and the independence of scienceand art.