Pussy Riot Update

Photo Courtesy of: Death and Taxes

Russian punk rockers, and political prisoners Pussy Riot are in the end stages of a politically divisive trail on charges of hooliganism.

SSG Music began covering the unfolding Pussy Riot saga all the way back in April, and since then the arrest and subsequent trial has become something of a cause célèbre with voices ranging from Kathleen Hanna to Modonna voicing support for the three women standing trial.

Most recently, Madonna hasutilized her fame to petition the imprisonment of three women from the punk band Pussy Riot be dropped.

Maria Alyokhina, 24; Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22 and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 face up to seven years in jail for storming the altar of Moscow’s main cathedral on Feb. 21 and belting out a song calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin, the prime minister who has since returned to the presidency.

Said Madonna, “I hope they do not have to serve seven years in jail. That would be a tragedy,” she said. “I think art should be political. Historically speaking, art always reflects what’s going on socially. So for me, it’s hard to separate the idea of being an artist and being political.”

Said to be an expression of art-activism, half of respondents of a Moscow survey oppose the trial, stating apparent showmanship and an “aquarium of a courtroom.”

The trial has shifted the focus in the courtroom away from any kind of political discourse; instead of politics or art, the prosecution has fully focussed on the pretense that the issues were ones of faith, God, the church and even the devil.

The trial has drawn opposition by various parties due to the growing discontent from the public after the trio’s imprisonment.  Lack of blind justice prompted vocal concerns over judicial process; a verdict is expected by Wednesday.