MOSCOW — Madonna, the pop megastar known for her own
less-than-pious adaptation of religious symbols and settings, used a sold-out
concert here on Tuesday night to voice support for the three women from a
feminist punk band who are being tried on hooliganism charges for staging an
anti-Putin stunt on the altar of Moscow’s main Russian Orthodox cathedral.
During the show, which started more than two hours late,
Madonna paused and gave a brief speech, reflecting on the privileges of
American freedom and democracy. “As an artist, as a human being, as a woman, I
have freedom to express my point of view, even if other people don’t agree with
me,” she said. “Even if my government doesn’t agree with me.”
“So I just want to say a few words about Pussy Riot,” she
continued. “I know there are many sides to every story, and I mean no
disrespect to the church or the government. But I think that these three girls
— Masha, Katya, Nadya — I think that they have done something courageous. I
think they have paid the price for this act. And I pray for their freedom.”
Later, she appeared on stage in a black bra with the name of
the band written in bold letters on her back. She also donned a balaclava, the
band’s trademark headgear.
Earlier Tuesday, the trial of the women — Maria Alyokhina,
24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23 — moved swiftly
toward a verdict, which could come this week. And once again, there was no
shortage of courtroom theatrics, including from a lawyer for those identified
as victims in the case. She re-emphasized the gravity of the stunt while
declaring feminism to be a “mortal sin.”
The women have been in prison since March, not long after
their February stunt — a profane “punk prayer” in which they beseeched the
Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir V. Putin, who was then running for a
third term as president.
They were charged with hooliganism motivated by religious
hatred, which carries a potential punishment of seven years in prison. But Mr.
Putin said last week in London that he hoped they were “not judged too
severely,” though he added that the decision was the court’s.
After giving no immediate sign of being moved by those
comments, the main prosecutor, Alexander Nikiforov, on Tuesday urged guilty
verdicts and jail terms of three years. Mr. Nikiforov insisted that the women
intended to insult the church and said the reference to Mr. Putin was added to
a video of the action only later to create the appearance of a political
protest.
Ms. Tolokonnikova, speaking from inside the glass enclosure
in the courtroom where the defendants sit through the proceedings each day,
said her “head explodes” every time she hears the accusations of religious
hatred. “We are jokers, clowns, perhaps holy fools, but we don’t intend to harm
anyone,” she said.
The episode in the cathedral was part of a cacophony of
antigovernment protests, including large street rallies that followed disputed
parliamentary elections in December.
But while critics largely cast the trial as an example of
heavy-handedness, it has also proved politically useful for supporters of the
Putin government by highlighting the close alliance between the Orthodox Church
and the state, suggesting a divide between the urban liberals in the opposition
and residents of the Russian heartland.
Even before her concert, Madonna was one of many celebrities
from around the world calling for the young women’s release in the name of
artistic and political freedom.
In interviews, she did not hide her disapproval of the
Russian authorities, and she acknowledged that she herself had been sharply
criticized by the Catholic Church.
“Yes, I have also upset the church many times,” she said in
an interview with the newspaper Kommersant. “Several times they wanted to
excommunicate me from the Catholic Church. Yes, I didn’t end up in prison for
this, but that is because I live in a free country, and not in Russia.”
The authorities had been bracing for potential conflict. The
American Embassy issued a warning about threats of violence at Tuesday’s
concert and at another later this week in St. Petersburg, and there was a heavy
police presence. But rumors of protests by supporters of the Orthodox Church
did not materialize.
nytimes.com
Also today, Pussy Riot took to their Twitter account to
thank Madonna for her support and the risk she took defending them onstage,
last night.
They wrote…
“DEAR MADONNA! We love you and you just might be changing
Russia’s history right now. Thank you and a thousand prayers in return!”
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