Pussy Riot or Propaganda riot? RTE takes the cake again

by pat c Fri Aug 17, 2012 19:51

The Orthodox Russian Church is interfering in politics.

This was a protest in support of civil and secular rights. The judge in her statement made it clear that she was sentencing Pussy Riot for blasphemy rather than any public order offence.

Lets back Putin in his foreign policy where he supports Syria against attack by the US, UK, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain.

But don't support the imprisonment of punks for protesting against the intertwining of church & state.

You are right about the increasing attack on liberties in the US, lets expose that and fight against it.

See: America's Descent Into Darkness
Slouching Towards Nuremberg?
by MORRIS BERMAN
Strange things are happening in the United States these days, and every day seems to bring additional scary news. The similarity to the erosion of civil liberties in Germany during the 1930s is a bit too close for comfort. Many will regard this statement as hyperbole, and, to some extent, it is. But let’s take a close look at what is going on before we dismiss the comparison out of hand.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/07/25/slouching-toward...berg/

I think I'll do a proper intro to the story and post it on the newswire.

But don't ignore it when things go wrong in Russia. Anti Gay laws have been passed, Gay Pride parades have been banned for 100 years in Moscow. I don't get this info from the BBC, I get it from RT.com.

Throughout the Pussy Riot trial RT have been critical of how it was being conducted by the judge. RT have never suggested the Pussy Riot were acting with ulterior motives.

President Putin said that Pussy Riot should not be treated harshly. Surely if Pussy Riot were shills for anyone then Putin would have been aware of it.

Folks I think the thing to do now is to send a message to President Putin asking him to pardon Pussy Riot. And you could add in a thak you to him for standing up against Imperialist interference in Syria.

http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/

by lefty Fri Aug 17, 2012 23:58

The article was mainly highlighting the media bias on RTE prime time program and it's disproportionate amount of time spent on a one sided attack on Russia about it's treatment of a few protesters, while not mentioning our own record on the treatment of our own protesters, or our own rather severe blasphemy law (praised by Pakistan!!). Care to comment on that aspect??

Prime time has also done similar biased one sided pieces on Syria. Both pieces sounded almost as if written directly by the US embassy and read out verbatim by Donagh Diamond.

I think Donagh Diamond was the same guy that interviewed Noam chomsky (in a clearly rather biased manner), causing Noam to come out with the famous response about bias in the media not being about being coerced to express certain viewpoints and ask certain questions, but more about the fact that if the interviewer didn't hold certain particular viewpoints and convictions then somebody else would be sitting in the chair conducting the interview instead

by pat c Sat Aug 18, 2012 00:11

I've an active record of opposing the church here.I've even caused a statue of the BVM to move (no miracle). I would support a punk band playing in the pro catherdral just as i support Pussy Riot playing in a church in moscow.

The thing is to be consistent in your opposition to church influence on the state, its wrong here and its wrong in Russia.

yes, the capitalist media will use things for their own ends, but that doesn't mean that Pussy Riot are wrong.

I've posted an article on the denial of service attack on RT.com because I realise how important that alternative voice is.

And its that alternative voice, RT.com which carried critical reports of the trial. Just as they have highlighted the anti-gsay laws in russia and the banning of Gay Pride parades in Moscow.

by pat c Sat Aug 18, 2012 00:20

Just checking. I've done my bit to oppose the MSM. Over the past month I've posted 16 stories on Iran & Syria, 1 on Bahrain, 2 on Assange, 1 on Bradley Manning here on Indymedia. I've also brought those stories to Politics.ie.

by pat c Sun Aug 19, 2012 17:28

This article is from WSWS.org , an Anti Imperialist website which opposes the US war in Syria and its threats against Iran. Full text at link.

Three members of the Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail yesterday for singing songs critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

They have been on trial in Moscow since July 30. They were charged with disorderly conduct and “disparaging the venerable traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church,” for an unauthorized performance by Pussy Riot at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (CCS) in Moscow on February 21 of this year. The group has a large number of members, who all wear masks when performing and try to keep their identities secret.

The three on trial, who have been in jail for half a year already, were Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, two of whom who have small children.

A video of both this performance and another one two days earlier at another Moscow church led to the current case. The women, who had come to the other church with electric guitars and amplifiers, were escorted out by security guards when they attempted to play.

The video, which soon appeared online, shows that Pussy Riot viewed its act as a political statement. The chorus to the song goes, “Mother of God, make Putin go away!” Shaped by postmodernist and feminist theories, the group’s outlook aligned it with many of the middle-class organizations active in the protest movement that began last December over the rigging of Russia’s parliamentary elections.

Two of the three women were arrested on March 3, the day before the presidential elections in which Vladimir Putin was elected to a third presidential term.

The procedures of the court trial of the three members of the punk group were marked by crude violations. During the hearings, the accused sat in a glassed-in “aquarium,” as if they were a danger to society; communication with their lawyers was impeded. Almost all the witnesses for the defense were denied permission to attend the trial, while people who were not even present during the event were admitted as witnesses for the prosecution. The court tried to forbid journalists from reporting witnesses’ testimony.

The prosecutor demanded that the women be sentenced to three years in prison. Justifying the court’s decision to impose a two-year term, Judge Marina Syrova said, “The girls’ actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous, and broke the church’s rules.” She added the three were guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, aiming to offend Russian Orthodox believers.
Defense attorneys plan to appeal the verdict.
The trial is a deliberate attempt by Russian authorities to silence public opposition by imposing draconian punishments in trumped-up trials for public criticism of Putin or of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Many famous singers and performers—including Sting, Madonna, John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, and the groups Faith No More, Franz Ferdinand, and Red Hot Chili Peppers—have announced their support for Pussy Riot.

Under Russian law, the actions of Pussy Riot are not subject to criminal prosecution. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior (CCS) in actual fact does not belong to the Orthodox Church, but to the Moscow government. Each year, several hundred million rubles of public funds are devoted to its maintenance; the Orthodox Church only rents the building.

The trial gave various Western imperialist politicians the opportunity to hypocritically posture as friends of democracy while criticizing Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose government has repeatedly insisted that Greece must impose unpopular austerity policies whatever the opinion of the Greek electorate and parliament, denounced the verdict. She called it “not in harmony with the European values of democracy and the rule of law, to which Russia has pledged itself as a member of the Council of Europe.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/puss-a18.shtml

by pat c Sun Aug 19, 2012 18:17

Full text at link.

A storm of criticism broke in Russia following the harsh two-year prison sentences given to three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot for protesting against the government in a Moscow cathedral. Those openly critical of the jail terms included some who are close to Vladimir Putin and others with strong links to the church, increasing pressure on the authorities to treat the trio more leniently.

Alexey Kudrin, a former finance minister who remains a close ally of Putin, said: "The verdict in the case against the Pussy Riot punk band isn't only a fact in the lives of three young women; it is also yet another blow to the justice system and, above all, Russian citizens' belief in it."

Andrei Isayev, a high-ranking member of the ruling United Russia party, also spoke out against the verdict. "The verdict is harsh. The president still might take a decision. But nonetheless this verdict which, probably, will be taken negatively by some of our liberal intelligentsia, will be taken as just by a significant number of people."

Even some of Putin's loudest supporters called the verdict a mistake. Tina Kandelaki, a prominent media personality and Putin cheerleader, called the verdict and sentence "information suicide" and "wrong at its very roots".

"For some reason, from the very beginning, Putin's advisers gave the president a new 'Khodorkovsky'," she said, referring to jailed oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whose arrest in 2003 signalled Putin's willingness to jail political critics, say critics.

"The millions of dollars of taxpayer money spent in the last few years on fixing the image of our country abroad have been thrown to the wind," she said. "Our image in the eyes of the world is getting closer to a medieval dictatorship, although in reality we are not that."

by lefty Sun Aug 19, 2012 22:49

These girls are just media whores if you will excuse the expression!
In this culture of celebrity, people will go to great lengths to get noticed.

The particular subject matter was inevitably going to get the attention of a right wing anti russian press. Very clever marketting. Nice colourful juxtaposition of pretty girls, garish masks, tights, religion in the form of the russian orthodox church, and a russian hate figure for the west

One of the girls is doing a playboy spread as a result of all this.

They will be in a low security jail for 18 months. But they will be famous celebrities forever with whatever else that brings. Maybe a discrete stipend for getting further anti russian comments into the media. Tv appearances? Product endorsements? (pussy riot branded garish coloured anti religious condoms anyone?) Maybe even A Book?

Job done, we're no longer nobodies, we're famous and no major risks taken either.

Not really feminists by any definition of the word. Their example only serves to set respect for women back. Call me old fashioned but Glorifying objectification of women was not high on the feminist agenda as far as I can recall!

Reminds me of the cheerleaders in the adverts Edward Bernays masterminded to sell smoking to girls. Except it's political isolation of russia in western geopolitics they are using russian women to try to sell this time.

Useful idiots trying to get famous, thats all.

The US psy ops and their captured media have clearly seen this great opportunity to kick Russia and have leaped into overdrive. Meanwhile bradley manning and many occupy wall street languish in prison and the US lapdog states are pushed into threats of invading embassies to get online cyber activist Julian Assange and put him into their US gulag in guantanamo indefinitely.

I'll also remind people about eco activist Jeff leurs, sentenced to 22 years for terrorism for an ecological protest.

All this hypocrisy about protesters in the media but the fact is we like protesters even less in the west. And you can go ahead and just shoot them in the face with plastic bullets in Bahrain with hardly a murmur from the western press. But "pussy riot", "yeah that'll sell newspapers and please our shadowy overlords. Lets clear the front page!" "save the protesters" ...except when they are our own ones of course

by pat c Sun Aug 19, 2012 23:12

That comment is just appalling.

Media whores don't go to prison. These women have already spent 6 months in prison.

They have got nothing to do with western attack on Russia. If they were so connected then Putin would have pointed it out.

You are pouring abuse on these women that Putins strongest supporters aren't doing.

Yes, western powers are using this but thats because Putin has handed it to them on a plate.

If its wrong for the church to have political power in Ireland then its wrong in Russia.

If anti gay laws are wrong in Ireland then they are wrong in Russia.

If its wrong for the church to control state schools in Ireland then its wrong in Russia.

by lefty Mon Aug 20, 2012 00:07

"If its wrong for the church to have political power in Ireland then its wrong in Russia.
If anti gay laws are wrong in Ireland then they are wrong in Russia."

Sure, I agree.

But I don't honestly believe that was their motivation. I believe they just wanted to become notorious and famous. And they are paying a price for that. But think about it this way: They really can't sing. And if they took a soul sucking menial job for the length of their sentence, the potential rewards for giving up that much time would be much less. They are now world famous.

I would expect pretty harsh treatment here by the media and the judiciary, if I went into the pro cathedral during prime time mass and attacked enda kenny and railed about abortion laws and contraception in africa and the injustice of child rapists enablers in the hierarchy getting off scott free. But especially so if having had a kinky sex orgy was my previous "protest". [that said, why didn't anyone actually do this??]

A very famous Irish gay man once said "There's only one thing worse than everybody talking about you. Thats when nobody is talking about you."

And don't you think that having slutty fame hungry porno queens highlighting a dearth of gay rights only reinforces a very damaging stereotype that gay people and their friends are all just promiscuous sex maniacs with loose morals?? Before you go mad, I'm most certainly NOT saying this is true at all but you know as well as I do that a certain unenlightened and not inconsiderable swathe of the population do believe this to be the case. The general unwillingness to support gay adoption gives weight to my statement (they won't admit it in public but many people likely believe the children would be sexually molested) These idiots (in pussy riot) most likely just reinforce that damaging stereotype whenever they mention the cause of gay rights.

Yes I do think they (pussy riot) are fame hungry idiots. Yes I do believe the sentence was somewhat harsh. But I also think the entire topic is completely rife through and through with hypocrisy and lack of awareness from all commentators.

Weakening a vulnerable growing respect for Russia and it's foreign policy at this time when they are the only bulwark against Imperialism may lead to even more deaths as the middle east slips into induced chaos. By comparison, a few fame hungry idiots spending a year or so in a soft college dorm type prison facility in return for a short cut to the fame they crave pales into insignificance.

Just as protests attacking Iran when Imperialists are barking at the door and killing children with their ridiculous sanctions are also problematic.

Timing is everything in geopolitics. Protesting unethical behaviour in countries on Imperialists shitlist is all very well and good. But get the timing and proportion wrong and you end up serving the very forces you oppose and being instrumental (in a small way) in getting even more people killed.

Look at Amnesty international. A lot of people are feeling pretty used there. There are quite a few other organisations who have suffered this fate of being "useful idiots" too.

**ducks under a table

by feudal castrato Mon Aug 20, 2012 00:15

"They really can't sing"

OR even make a decent porno! Without this anti russian media hysteria, they would be doomed to faceless mediocrity

personally I would have given 'em at least TEN years for crimes against music, fashion and erotic art.

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:08

Only a matter of time so before Louis Walsh rebrands them as M3 and they storm the stadium circuits.

Meantime they come in handy to distract from such unfortunate accidents as the shooting dead of 34 striking miners in 'post-apartheid' South Africa; and the threat by the London 'owners' of firing anyone who is not back down the hole extracting 'their' platinum today.

South Africa is 'solved', isn't it?No need to go back there...

by feminist Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:16

Distraction from what , Opus? Surely freedom of expression in Putin's Russia is as important an issue as freedom of expression anywhere else.

Why shouldn't Nadia, Masha and Katya have the right to protest at what they term "the enforced civic passivity of the bulk of the Russian population" ? The punk rockers' words were not dissimilar to Lefty's above about the backwardness that affects " a certain unenlightened and not inconsiderable swathe of the [Irish] population"

I can't understand Lefty's recent attitude . He wrote in favour of artists' freedom to criticize as recently as last Easter
" religious theories should no longer receive special treatment and should be questioned with the same rigour and respect/disrespect that any other theories about how the universe works are. In that light, deference to them seems pretty ridiculous. And the fact that such deference has served as cover for systematic child rapists makes it doubly ridiculous for such misplaced respect and deference to continue."

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/101566

So let's stay focused and keep up the pressure on Putin and his barbaric anti-democratic regime . As Eilis O'Hanlon wrote in the Independent yesterday
And now that the spotlight has finally been trained on Putin's Russia -- officially designated an "authoritarian regime" by the Democracy Index last year -- that's exactly where it should stay

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Aug 20, 2012 18:51

..the Nato chain of wars running towards a march on Moscow for starters...via Af/Pak/Iraq/Libya /Syria/Iran; and on to containing any challenge to PNAC full spectrum planetary(and virtual+outer-space)dominance for their corporate liquidation of resources, into obscene and obese privatised wealth-funds.

As represented by the airbrushed corporate slaughter of 34 miners in Johannesburg, for striking for a share of the wealth they create for London 'owners' who never get further than the lift-shafts to their penthouses; a slightly more toxic form of judicial elimination of opposition.

I have no illusions about Putin; but he's less of of a trusting naife than Gorbachov, and less of a drunken fool/tool than Yeltsin.
Were I Russian, I would prefer his brand of 'authoritarianism' to the stooge Washington will impose if they topple him.
He is the crosshairs for his resistance to the armed subversion of the stable multi-ethnic Syria by the sectarian fundamentalist Wahhabi Saudis; who make the Russian Orthodox look like radical humanists in comparison.

But then Bush and Blair would probably have merited AAA status on that Democracy Index.

How come you find Putin more 'barbaric' than the Nato warmongers??
Or less 'democratic' than the corporate-lobby-installed Obama serving the aims of the military/industrial Pentagonians dictating policy in Washington, via Wall St numerological casino-economix?

by lefty Mon Aug 20, 2012 21:56

"As Eilis O'Hanlon wrote in the Independent yesterday "

I was going to respond but then I read that bit....

by Putin_charge Mon Aug 20, 2012 22:24

"So let's stay focused and keep up the pressure on Putin and his barbaric anti-democratic regime . As Eilis O'Hanlon wrote in the Independent yesterday
And now that the spotlight has finally been trained on Putin's Russia -- officially designated an "authoritarian regime" by the Democracy Index last year -- that's exactly where it should stay"

Sorry, what? Why do we need to stay focussed on attacking Russia? Is it because the US are pissed off they vetoed their no fly zone and their other attempts to have their way with Syria??

Who says we should see things your way. Frankly I think we are lucky Russia and Putin are there stopping the US and Israel and the Saudis from starting WWIII. So fuck you and Eilis and your Yankee propaganda!

by Vlad Tue Aug 21, 2012 03:58

I agree the RTE coverage was awful but who is shocked? We've had many years of their pro-US rubbish by now. Of course Pussy Rot are shills or usefull idiots and does it matter which? Their team is the same: team USA. And once again we see the statist fans who ponce around in their tight blue jeans to anyplace they think they can attack traditional society jumping to the assistance to the Pussy Rot. That church was destroyed by Stalin and now the next generation of cultural Marxists are hoping to do the same while their 'sistas' in Kiev cut down a monument (crucifix) to the millions murdered by Stalin in Ukraine. Let the Pussy Rot in Prison.

by counterpunch Wed Aug 22, 2012 00:51

paul craig roberts has a good piece about Putin speaking out against US hegemony and the dangers of nuclear war

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/17/stumbling-toward...-war/

It's interesting in the context of all the anti russian media this stupid pussy riot protest is getting.

by lefty Mon Sep 03, 2012 05:32

Hitting the Commercial Jackpot: The Secret History of Pussy Riot

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/23/the-secret-histo...riot/

It has some background on the orthodox church while putting the pussy riot in their place as the talentless publicity seeking "useful idiots" they are.

It seems Pussy riot now have a single put together especially for them by the Guardian newspaper and apparently they also have the support of the US state department. Both well known supporters of punk rock and free speech! Yeah right! Very useful publicity seeking idiots indeed!!

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/17/entertainment/la-et-ms-pussy-riot-new-single-state-department-20120817

by pat c Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:44

Yes, unsurprisingly western interests are using the Pussy Riot situation for their own interests.

But President Putins own Human Rights Council are unhappy with the sentence Pussy Riot have received.

President has access to both internal and external security agency intelligence reports. He has never suggested Pussy Riot are acting as anyones shills.

Russia Today have covered the story from the start, they have a large staff of investigative reporters. They have never suggested that Pussy Riot are agents for the West.

Quite a few of Putins advisers have expressed disquiet at the verdict and sentence.

Given the above, by all means attack how the West are using the situation but please don't attack the band itself.

by pat c Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:54

The author of the counterpunch piece sees the PR attack as part of the worldwide anti christian offensive. He claims that the the Russian Church is a force for solidarity when the opposite is the truth. The Othodox church is led by a billionaire who wears a rolex.
I don't think his rant can be taken any more seriously than State Department attacks on Russia.

Russia support for Syria must be supported.

But the guy above is to the right of Putin, his Human Rights Council and his advisers.

by pat c Mon Sep 03, 2012 13:00

I think I will be forgiven for going slightly off topic to cover the Democratic Convention in Charlotte. Water bottles banned but guns ok! I think I'll arrive with an AK47.

DNC security rules raise fears of unconstitutional police tactics

As the Democratic National Convention nears, people in Charlotte could face arrest for carrying water bottles, socks, markers, and other seemingly unthreatening items, triggering worries over free speech violations and warrantless searches.

Guests and protesters of the DNC have expressed concern that law enforcement could violate their constitutional rights in the name of public safety. A new city rule for “extraordinary events” also bans the possession of handbags, backpacks, soda cans, drink coolers, scarves, bike helmets, baby strollers, and non-service animals.

The rules are vague, causing concern among citizens who don’t know if the items they carry will land them in jail, the Associated Press reported. A “container or object of sufficient weight to be used as a projectile” can be interpreted in many ways to include objects like digital cameras.

Not included in the list of banned items, however, are handguns and rifles. The state’s laws grant anyone the right to carry firearms in public places. ...

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon Sep 03, 2012 13:18

Seals are OK then?

'Sorry sir, you'll have to surrender that water-pistol..no no, the AK is fine..need any ammo?The grenades are on discount.... Joe, show this gentleman to the arsenals...have a nice day...'.