Pussy Riot supporters in Toronto rallied in front of the Russian consulate on Friday (August 17) to show solidarity for the imprisoned punk rock band.
The peaceful two-hour protest began at 11:30 am, when hundreds came together to denounce the sentence handed down to the punk rock band. The protest started shortly after it was announced that all three members, who were convicted of hooliganism, had been convicted to serve a two-year prison sentence in a Siberian jail.
Simon Shaw and his two sons were one of the hundreds who gathered in front of the consulate, located on the corner of Bloor and Church.
“What’s happening in Russia is the extreme example of freedom of speech being abused,” says Shaw. “In Canada, if you look at protesting students in Quebec, we have a government that wants to take away the rights that these students have to protest. We have scientists trying to speak out on global warming but are pressured to stay silent by our government. We need to start taking action now before things escalate.”
The Pussy Riot members – Yekaterina Samutsevich, a 30-year-old computer programmer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a 22-year-old philosophy student and mother and Maria Alyokhina, a 24-year-old mother and a journalism student – have spent the last six months in prison waiting for the final verdict.
When the conviction was handed down, news of the protest immediately spread across Twitter and Facebook. Rose Palmieri and Mahsa Alimavdani credit social media for bringing their attention to local efforts.
“We’re so proud to be here today,” says Alimavdani. “Looking around and seeing all these people is amazing because it means the world hasn’t forgotten. We were able to reach out via Twitter and Facebook and spread [Pussy Riot’s] story of oppression.”
Palmieri says that Pussy Riot’s act of defiance has been branded a “punk rock” rebellion, but she says that their impromptu concert goes beyond genre, gender or border. “You can go out and protest actively. You can’t let it stop at sending a link on Twitter. Unfortunately, some people might see this is as something that happened in Russia, distant from us here in Canada. These woman used their art to draw attention to the climate of fear that has taken over Russia. We need to continue these protests of solidarity around the world.”
On Friday morning, the judge presiding over their case turned down Pussy Riot’s argument that they had not meant to offend religious leaders after they stormed into a cathedral to denounce Vladamir Putin. They claim that performing a “punk prayer” to the Virgin Mary, asking her to save Russia from Putin’s reign, was a political act to promote freedom of expression.
Torontonian Fariz Kovalchuk, who also attended today’s protest, says that the freedom to speak out against the church is something that the women had every right to do. “I grew up in the former Soviet Union. I am familiar with the human rights infractions that occur on a regular basis. I’m here today because I believe these woman had every right to do what they did. No religious institution has the authority to impose their power over the judicial system. What Pussy Riot did was political – not motivated by hate.”
The protests concluded shortly before 2 pm and no arrests were made, as police officers and security guards watched over the vibrant crowd. Solidarity protests are expected to happen in Montreal and Ottawa later today.
