The Women of Pussy Riot launching another protest movement in Russia.

By artappraiser on Fri, 01/10/2014 - 9:58pm |

By Masha Gessen, Slate.com, Jan. 9, 2014

[....] The Greenpeace activists went home to their respective countries; Khodorkovsky went to Germany, into what appears to be involuntary exile. Only Alyokhina, 25, and Tolokonnikova, 24, remain in Russia, speaking out. Their message is: Do not buy the newly varnished façade. Russia is continuing to abuse the rights of its own people in ways most cannot even imagine. And anyone who goes to the Olympics, whether as an athlete, a spectator, or an official, in effect condones these abuses. [....]

The most important thing they learned from their first press conference was that, at least for now, they have a large international audience.

“I was worried that no one would be interested in prisoners' rights,” Tolokonnikova says. “I thought this might be just something Masha and I want to work on because we have experienced it.”

But prison is an object of almost universal fear and interest in Russia [....]

URL:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/01/pussy_riot_members_after_release_they_re_launching_a_prisoners_rights_movement.html

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I blogged about these women a year and a half ago, quoting a critical NSFW piece that dismissed them as idealist troublemakers that were popular in the West, but not so much at home. I also linked to a photo essay of them as part of a larger group that protested by having sex in a museum. When translated, the live journal poster, who wears a top hat in the pictures, is also disdainful of them. He may just be covering his butt, but many of the commenters are also dismissive.

Slate presents them as activist heroines - and so has Democracy Now! and just about every western news source - but looking at the pictures, I am surprised at how healthy the women look. Though they claim that they had to fight to bathe even once a week for sixteen months, had to perform hard labor, went on hunger strikes, and spent time in solitary, Tolokonnikova's facial skin looks model-perfect.

Very odd.

by Donal on Sat, 01/11/2014 - 2:22pm

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