MOSCOW — Protests held outside the Tagansky Court building in Moscow on Wednesday brought out many of Russia's leading cultural figures in a show of support for the jailed members of the feminist anti-Vladimir Putin punk band Pussy Riot, though their presence had little effect on the procedings inside. Artists, poets, journalists, and the general public joined in an impromptu festival set to coincide with the trial of the subversive group.
While Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina, and Ekaterina Samutsevich have been detained for over 100 days, the Moscow art community has organized a performance festival marked by poems and songs filled with protest lyrics. Participants including civil activist Evgeniya Chirikova, poet and writer Dmitry Bykov, blogger and media activist Anton Nossik, film directors Alexander and Evgeny Mitta, artists Georgy Litichevsky and Vladimir Dubossarsky have joined the action outside Tagansky Court to express their solidarity with the detained women.
On Wednesday, after Pussy Riot's court hearing had been rescheduled from June 15, activists gathered outside the building before noon and the boisterous festival transformed into a spontaneous sidewalk meeting as the artists, journalists, and poets were refused access to the courtroom. Police detained 11 people — some of whom were taken away in paddy wagons. Several detainees made their way back to the court building after spending two hours in the isolation ward.
Many were surprised that actress Chulpan Khamatova attended Samutsevich's court hearing. She left as quickly as she had arrived, all the while hiding behind her dark glasses. Her presence, however fleeting, illustrated how Russia's art world has become interlaced with its politics, as many poets and artists find themselves visiting the courts as often as they visit their studios.
The result of Wednesday's court hearing was unfortunately predictable: the band’s detainment has been prolonged until July 24. The group's lawyers predicted that prosecutors will seek 7-year prison sentences for the three women. To make matters worse, Pussy Riot's defense team has been denied sufficient time to become familiar with the case.
As the protest walks in May showed, neither batons nor threats of arrest can suppress Pussy Riot's supporters, whose numbers keep increasing as their trial continues. Unfortunately, it seems that the three women will not be released unless the Holy Mother actually follows the advice given during the band's controversial cathedral performance, and chases Putin out of Russia.
This article also appears on ARTINFO Russia.