Translated material
Laodicean Consequence
Appeal from cultural and artistic figures of the Russian Federation
On June 20, the Tagansky Court of Moscow extended the period of detention of members of the Pussy Riot group. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich have been under arrest in a pre-trial detention center since March of this year. They were charged under Article 213 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 2, according to which they face up to 7 years in prison.
We, the undersigned, have different assessments of the moral and ethical side of the actions of the participants in the February action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but:
– We believe that Pussy Riot’s actions do not constitute a criminal offense.
The girls did not kill anyone, did not rob, did not commit violence, did not destroy or steal other people's property. Russia is a secular state, and no anti-clerical actions, if they do not fall under the articles of the Criminal Code, can be the cause of criminal prosecution.
– We believe that the criminal case against Pussy Riot compromises the Russian judicial system and undermines trust in government institutions as a whole.
All the time that the protesters are in custody, an atmosphere of intolerance is growing in society, which leads to its split and radicalization.
“We see no legal basis or practical sense for further isolation from society of these young women, who do not pose any real danger.”
Moreover, two of them are young mothers.
“We are convinced that it is necessary to release Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Ekaterina Samutsevich from custody and terminate their case or reclassify it from criminal to administrative.
Lots of signatures .
The socio-political position of some signatories (on other issues) only causes nausea, but this letter is a good thing. And the letter correctly places the emphasis: Pussy Riot committed petty hooliganism, many find it very offensive, but, nevertheless, it is petty hooliganism. The four-month arrest and delusional accusations of the investigation discredit the legal and judicial system.
A person who drives drunk is a million times more dangerous than a drunk driver. But he is imprisoned for three days, and they remain under investigation for months.
Obviously, if they had sung not about Putin, but about Cheburashka, they would have been imprisoned for three days (or simply fined), but they sang about Putin. And it is Putin who keeps them under arrest.
As is now fashionable on this topic, we must add “I am an Orthodox person.”
So, as an Orthodox person, I believe that this whole political-criminal process causes enormous damage to the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church. And the further it goes, the worse it gets. The everyday context of the discussion shifts to “the priests keep the girls in prison, and they have small children.” I don’t want it to be like this and I don’t like such discussions.
And all those people who shout “put them in prison, in prison, put them in prison for a hundred years” are no different from the dangerous freak fanatics who destroyed embassies because of cartoons, shoot women with a paintball gun (for being without handkerchiefs) in Grozny , or a person is imprisoned for writing “There is no God” on Facebook .
Not every offensive act should be punishable by imprisonment. Anyone who doesn't understand this should be sitting on a tree. Yesenin wrote obscene ditties on the walls of the Strastnoy Monastery. And why should he stop being a Russian cultural icon because of this? Or should he be imprisoned posthumously?
Pusey Riots, like all people, deserve a normal investigation, a fair trial and preventive measures adequate to their social danger.
And not trash, in which the examination of the investigation refers to the “15th rule of the Council of Laodicea” adopted in the 4th century . It’s good that “ The Hammer of Witches ” is not cited in the indictment, otherwise Tolokonnikova would have already been set on fire right on Tekhnicheskiy Lane near the knowledge of the Investigative Committee, where every second investigator took a test at the university on “scientific atheism”, and is now sharply concerned about the “undermining of spiritual foundations” .