ED2012 Festival Venues ED2012 News

Fringe performers join Pussy Riot protests

By | Published on Thursday 16 August 2012

Pussy Riot Protest

Edinburgh Fringe performers will join a global day of action tomorrow in support of three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, who are facing three years in jail for performing a song critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the altar of the Cathedral Of Christ The Saviour Of The Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow earlier this year.

Three members of the ten strong band have been accused of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility” for their involvement in the political protest, and the prosecution in the case is pushing for jail terms.

However, the group denies the charges, and insists the case against them is politically motivated. As the case has gone through the Russian courts it has garnered increased international attention, especially amongst the music and wider creative community, who are urging the Russian judiciary to not give way to political pressure, and to protect the creative and free speech rights of the Pussy Riot members. Madonna and Bjork are amongst those to have spoken out in support of their fellow performers.

Earlier this week Amnesty International recruited a team of Fringe performers flyering on the Royal Mile to take part in a short protest in support of the Pussy Riot accused, donning brightly coloured balaclavas like those worn by Pussy Riot when they perform live (pictured above).

Amnesty International Scotland Director Shabnum Mustapha told ThreeWeeks: “The Pussy Riot women were simply exercising their right to peaceful dissent and three years [in jail] for a song is utterly ridiculous. We’ve always had great support from comedians, who value the right to free speech more than most, and it was wonderful to see so many festival-goers and workers drumming up support [yesterday] for the right to speak freely. It’s fairly hard to shock on the streets of Edinburgh [during the Festival], but we did it [with this protest], people were actually approaching the flyerers for a change, out of curiosity”.

Various further protests are planned around the world tomorrow as the accused artists hear the court’s verdict in Moscow, including staged readings of the three accused’s testimonies. Such a reading will take place at the Fringe’s Sweet Grassmarket venue tomorrow at 11am.

Sweet Venue Director JD Henshaw told ThreeWeeks: “These three young women – some, mothers with young children – face unconscionable persecution, and severe prison sentences, for merely doing what each and every performer here at the Fringe does every single day of their lives – these women are being punished for exercising the simple basic human right of free creative expression. We support them in our modest way by exercising that very same right of creative expression, and in doing so, remind ourselves how much we must always cherish the right of free expression that we enjoy in our own country. We hope for their safe return to freedom and their families, and for their undeniable right to pursue their art”.

For more on the Pussy Riot case, you can follow coverage from our sister publication CMU here.



READ MORE ABOUT: | |