Third Member Of PUSSY RIOT Charged Over 'Punk Prayer'

March 16, 2012

According to RT, a third member of the Russian all-girl punk rock band PUSSY RIOT has been arrested for staging a protest "concert" at Moscow's Christ the Saviour cathedral.

Irina Loktina, who had earlier acted as a witness in this case, will remain in jail until April 24.

On February 21, five members of PUSSY RIOT broke into the cathedral and stormed the altar, performing a song called "Holy Shit" whose lyrics are said to be a condemnation of the Russian Orthodox church's close ties to Vladimir Putin. "Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin," they sang, "chase Putin out!"

"Our patriarch is not ashamed of wearing watches worth $40,000, which is intolerable when so many families in Russia are on the edge of poverty," PUSSY RIOT explained. "Our position is to think critically, to doubt all 'natural' things, and find lies."

According to Reuters, PUSSY RIOT's performance, which was posted on the Internet (see video below),offended Orthodox believers because the bandmembers stood in a part of the church reserved exclusively for priests.

The other two musicians who are in custody, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhin, have begun a hunger strike to protest the conditions of their arrest, which will see them kept behind bars until a late April hearing.

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