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
No comments:
Post a Comment