Jailed Pussy Riot member goes missing

Family members say Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has gone missing after a prison transfer to an unknown destination after staging a hunger strike over "slavelike" conditions. Word has it that she is going to a prison in Alatyr, near Mordovia, though no one knows for sure. Her partner thinks her disappearance is a political move: "This is basically the only way they have to punnish Nadya," he says. "Let's cut her off from the outside world."

Earlier this year, Tolokonnikova was convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after Pussy Riot staged an anti-Putin performance in a Moscow cathedral.
Image: Pussy Riot performing at Red Square in Moscow

A Russian court bans online video clips of Pussy Riot

A Moscow court has ruled that websites must remove video clips of Pussy Riot. The anti-Putin prayer performed in a cathedral that led to the conviction of three of the group's members has been viewed more that 2.4 million times on YouTube. Read more...

Image: Pussy Riot performing at Red Square in Moscow

Political activism recognised in this year's Power 100

Last year the top spot in ArtReview magazine's Power 100 was held by Ai Weiwei. Political activism will be recognised again in this year's lineup of art-world movers and shakers with the inclusion of Pussy Riot who, according to the editor of ArtReview, are positioned "somewhere in the middle of the list". The 2012 Power 100 will be announced later this week.

Image: Pussy Riot performing at Red Square in Moscow

Pussy Riot ruling generates new tensions

The ruling that saw one member of Pussy Riot walk free from court is generating new tensions. A Russian appeals court unexpectedly ordered the release of Yekaterina Samutsevich, but upheld two-year sentences against the other members of the group fueling accusations of betrayal within social networking sites and leading the mass circulation paper Moskovsky Komsomolets to ask: "What new game have our authorities begun? Are we once again talking about the time-honoured formula of divide and rule?"

Meanwhile Samutsevich says Pussy Riot's protests will continue. "We are not finished, nor are we going to end our political protest," she said to CNN. "We have to act in such away that they do not learn about our concerts ahead of time and arrest us."
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow's Red Square

Russia's PM says free Pussy Riot

Russia's Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, has joined the ranks of celebrities and political heavyweights calling for the jailed members of Pussy Riot to be released. Medvedev has long sought to portray himself as a liberal reformer, but critics say he fails to follow through and deliver results. In this case, he was quick to say he has no intention of interfering in Russia's notoriously politicised court system. 
Image: Members of Pussy Riot show the court's verdict as they sit in a courtroom in Moscow.

Poland's Lech Walesa asks Putin to pardon Pussy Riot

Poland's former leader Lech Walesa has asked Russian President Vladmir Putin to pardon the jailed members of Pussy Riot. The 1983 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who is also a fervent Catholic, slammed the group for abusing a church for political purposes and distanced himself from "the forms of expression used by the group." But he insisted that it was impossible to "subject to maltreatment and isolation people who fight with words and who promote their views publicly, even though they do so in such an iconoclastic manner."
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow's Red Square

Pussy Riot on the run

Two members of Pussy Riot have fled Russia to avoid prosecution for the protest against Vladimir Putin that sent three of their members to prison.

Five of the feminist group took part in the provocative performance inside Moscow's main cathedral to protest the Russian leader's rule and relationship with the Orthodox Church. The women wore their trademark coloured balaclavas, which made it difficult for the police to identify them and only three were arrested. Moscow police say they are searching for the other band members, an apparent warning to the group to stop its anti-Putin protests.

Pussy Riot tweeted that two activists had fled Russia and are "recruiting foreign feminists to prepare new protest actions." Another message said at least 12 other members of the group remain at large in Russia.
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow

Putin starts the fire of revolution

This link takes you to Putin starts the fire of revolution, the new single by Pussy Riot released on the last day of the trial.
Image: Tolokno/Virgin Mary (author unknown)

Pussy Riot: using art to advance social change

ARTINFO charts the founding and growth of Pussy Riot alongside the provocative political actions that landed them in both in jail and in the international spotlight. Read more...
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow's Red Square

Pussy Riot receive two-year jail sentence

Three members of Pussy Riot have been found guilty of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in a Russian prison colony. Judge Marina Syrova said they had "crudely undermined social order" and "their correction can only be achieved by an actual punishment." Read more...
Image: Pussy Riot in the Russian courtroom

How the Russian system set out punish Pussy Riot and ended up playing into their hands

On Friday, Judge Marina Syrova will deliver her verdict in the trial of three members of Pussy Riot who were charged with hooliganism and incitement of religious hatred after performing their anthem "Mother of God, Cast Putin Out" on the alter of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ our Saviour.

A guilty verdict is said to be a foregone conclusion since acquittals by Russian courts are virtually unheard of. The question is whether they will receive a suspended sentence or a jail term. But in an article in The Telegraph, John Lough says the women opposed to the Putin system have scored a stunning victory over it. Read more...
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow

Video footage of Pussy Riot performing in Christ the Saviour Cathedral

In Moscow the presiding judge has wrapped up the Pussy Riot case and says she will issue a verdict next week. In the meantime you can see a video of their anti-Putin punk prayer service here.
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral

Putin says Pussy Riot should not be judged too harshly

The fate of Pussy Riot will be decided soon and after Putin said they "should not be judged too harshly" for performing an anti-Putin punk service in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Church. The group's lawyer said the judge will probably hand down a lighter punishment as a result of Putin's decision to speak, but notes that it comes as international pressure over the trial escalates. "He is maneuvering in front of the West with his words," he said. Read more...
Image: A member of Pussy Riot being escorted into court

Pussy Riot trial begins in Moscow

Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot went on trial this week for their protest in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral in February. They could face seven-year sentences if found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by hatred" for performing an anti-Putin punk prayer service in the cathedral.
Image: Pussy Riot performing in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral

Pussy Riot members face jail terms over anti-Putin punk prayer service

The lawyer for three members of the all-female, anti-Putin punk group known as Pussy Riot who are currently awaiting trial for an allegedly blasphemous protest in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral shortly before the election that saw Vladimir Putin returned for a third term as Russian president, says only appeals from Western celebrities and high-profile cultural figures can save them from further criminal charges and long jail sentences.

Pussy Riot's unsanctioned punk prayer service at the Cathedral, entreating the Virgin Mary to liberate Russia from Putin, stirred up a storm about the role of the church, art and women in Russian society. Read more...
Image: Pussy Riot performing at Red Square in Moscow

Members split from Voina to form Pussy Riot

Members of the radical Russian art collective Voina have broken away from the group to form an all-female, anti-Putin punk group known as Pussy Riot. Recently they performed an unsanctioned punk prayer service at Christ the Saviour Cathedral, entreating the Virgin Mary to liberate Russia from Vladimir Putin, stirring up a storm about the role of the church, art and women in Russian society. Read more...
Image: Pussy Riot performing at Red Square in Moscow