(AP) – 21 minutes ago
MOSCOW (AP) — Two top clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church say it has forgiven the members of feminist punk band Pussy Riot who were convicted of hooliganism and sent to prison for briefly taking over a cathedral in a raucous prayer for deliverance from Vladimir Putin.
Tikhon Shevkunov, who heads Moscow's Sretensky Monastery and is widely believed to be Putin's spiritual counselor, said on state TV Saturday that his church forgave the singers right after their "punk prayer" in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.
Archpriest Maxim Kozlov agreed, but he also said on state TV that his church hopes the young women and their supporters "realize that their acts are awful."
Both clerics supported a court's decision to prosecute Pussy Riot, despite an international outcry that criticized it as unfair.
I admire the willingness of the Russia Orthodox Church to forgive a group of women seeking recognition for their art while making a political statement. I question they ever thought prison would be their consequence for their song.
I was seeking a similar punishment in the USA for a crime. The closest I came to hooliganism in the USA code, would be mayhem. In California, a person can be charged with minimally two years of prison for mayhem, but, there is a physical destruction component to the law. It requires body injury of another. There is an interesting side track in the California law which states the punishment for torture is life in prison.
Hooliganism is a behavior issue, it is defined in Merriam-Webster as rowdy, violent or destructive behavior.
There is no doubt when people cause damage to property there has to be recognition of what costs others hardship of any kind, but, there is a danger to jailing for behavior that does not harm as opposed to behavior that does harm. The USA is no example of what is equitable in law, though. Recently, a young gay man committed suicide after being caught on a camera and the person causing the distress to his roommate basically went without penalty. I suppose the stigma of being the person of causing another's death has some penalty itself, but, under the law he was basically exonerated. I saw it as a hate crime not one of mischief.
I believe President Putin did the right thing by speaking up before the verdict and no doubt the court considered his words in their decision. He is joined now by the Russian Orthodox Church. It would a good thing for the people of Russia, their government and their courts to examine the way power is leveraged when the Russian people are attempting to make a political statement.
Perhaps, this is a chance for Russia to surpass the USA in leveraging justice in political speech. Pussy Riot being jailed can be a turning point for Russia. What I find incredibly interesting about the demonstration in a church, was the lack of maliciousness. There was no damage. There was no harm to others. It was a purely political act, but, well behaved in its demeanor. I think Russia has less to worry about when it comes to embarrassing behavior by its people than it imagines.
There is no doubt when people cause damage to property there has to be recognition of what costs others hardship of any kind, but, there is a danger to jailing for behavior that does not harm as opposed to behavior that does harm. The USA is no example of what is equitable in law, though. Recently, a young gay man committed suicide after being caught on a camera and the person causing the distress to his roommate basically went without penalty. I suppose the stigma of being the person of causing another's death has some penalty itself, but, under the law he was basically exonerated. I saw it as a hate crime not one of mischief.
I believe President Putin did the right thing by speaking up before the verdict and no doubt the court considered his words in their decision. He is joined now by the Russian Orthodox Church. It would a good thing for the people of Russia, their government and their courts to examine the way power is leveraged when the Russian people are attempting to make a political statement.
Perhaps, this is a chance for Russia to surpass the USA in leveraging justice in political speech. Pussy Riot being jailed can be a turning point for Russia. What I find incredibly interesting about the demonstration in a church, was the lack of maliciousness. There was no damage. There was no harm to others. It was a purely political act, but, well behaved in its demeanor. I think Russia has less to worry about when it comes to embarrassing behavior by its people than it imagines.
11:32 16/8/12
MOSCOW, August 16 (Dan Peleschuk, RIA Novosti)
AFP/Natalia Kolesnikova
...Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, (click here) 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30 – speculation over their fate has only grown. They have already spent five months in custody, and two of the women have small children with whom they have been deprived of contact since their incarceration....
