The female punk rock group Pussy Riot has long been a bane in the Russian oligarchy’s side.
In a recent court appearance, they were deemed an “extreme organization”.
The ruling by the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow makes the rockers outlaws and banned from operating in Russia. Furthermore, anyone who is linked to the group could face criminal prosecution.
The rockers made their mark in Russia when they performed a protest “punk prayer” aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin and did so from the pulpit of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Pussy Riot continues their protest performances…but mostly in exile.
In September Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova – all linked to Pussy Riot – had sentences of jail terms handed down after being found guilty of “spreading “false information” about the Russian military”.
The sentence was in response to an anti-war music video and an art performance in Germany where “Pletner urinated on a portrait of Putin”.
Alyokhina was sentenced to 13 years in prison
Pletner was sentenced to eleven years
Burkot, Petrova, and Borisova were sentenced to eight years
The women have rejected the charges and sentencing as “politically motivated.”