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Of the many ironies of the trial, the most poignant may that it has confirmed Pussy Riot’s indictment of both the Putin government and the culture of crushing conformity and political obedience that it’s authoritarian rule has solidified both in Russia’s religious institutions and in society at large. As band member Maria Alyokhina put it in a powerful closing statement, Russians
have a sense of themselves simply as the automated masses. They don’t feel that the forest belongs to them, even the forest located right next to their houses. I doubt they even feel a sense of ownership over their own houses. Because if someone were to drive up to their porch with a bulldozer and tell them that they need to evacuate, that, “Excuse us, we’re going raze your house to make room for a bureaucrat’s residence,” these people would obediently collect their belongings, collect their bags, and go out on the street. And then stay there precisely until the regime tells them what they should do next. They are completely shapeless, it is very sad. Having spent almost half a year in jail, I have come to understand that prison is just Russia in miniature.
As if to emphasize the point, the judge in the Pussy Riot concluded her verdict by charging that the band showed “open disrespect and defiance against the commonly accepted norms and tastes of others.” In essence, it was a chilling confirmation that being different, that refusing to conform, were now crimes in Russia, punishable by jail time.
Pussy Riot’s jail sentence should finally put paid to the idea that the Russian government is responsive to global opinion. As the government’s persecution of Pussy Riot and the deficiencies of the trial became increasingly obvious in recent weeks, commentators rushed to speculate that the government’s handling of the case was a “PR catastrophe.” Surely, the fact that Pussy Riot’s cause had been embraced by celebrities as big as Madonna and Paul McCartney would make Putin think twice about handing down a severe sentence.
In the end, none of it mattered. The government made clear that if it wanted to punish its political opponents, however innocent or harmless, it would — world opinion be damned. Just to underscore the point, immediately after the jail sentence was handed down police rounded up and arrested over a 100 protesters outside the courtroom, among them the former chess champion and pro-democracy activist Garry Kasparov. The message to Russia’s nascent political opposition rang loud and clear clear: When it comes to political dissent, you have the right to remain silent, and that right will be strictly enforced.
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