All-girl punk band sentenced to two years in Russian jail: Too harsh?

The verdict is in: Pussy Riot will face 19 more months in prison on charges of "hooliganism" for storming a church in Moscow and protesting Putin's rule

Members of the Russian female punk band Pussy Riot
(Image credit: REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin)

Early Friday, three members of the all-female Russian punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in jail on charges of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" (the closest American equivalent is a "hate crime"). Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were arrested for storming Moscow's largest Orthodox cathedral back in February. In what the band termed a "punk prayer," the three donned ski-masks and bright-colored spandex while performing a noisy protest against President Vladimir Putin's close ties to the church. Free speech advocates from around the world, including high-profile musicians from Paul McCartney to Björk, have all called for the threesome's immediate release. The band's supporters say the case demonstrates Putin's "refusal to tolerate dissent in his new six-year term as president," says Reuters, and the United States and the European Union have denounced the sentencing as disproportionate. Is the two-year sentence too harsh?

It's actually not surprising: The sentence handed down on Pussy Riot is "par for the course in modern Russia," says Zach Beauchamp at ThinkProgress. The potential maximum sentence for the charge of "hooliganism" is actually seven years. Although this particular case has triggered an international outcry, "it's worth remembering this isn't an isolated incident," and the regime routinely jails dissident journalists, activists, and others who seek to "undermine Russian democracy." Even the members of Pussy Riot saw this one coming.

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