NETHERLANDS: Pussy Riot members say Russian President Vladimir Putin's system is much weaker than it seems and it might start shaking if Russian people are shown the possibility to protest

Record ID: 261517

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: Pussy Riot members say Russian President Vladimir Putin's system is much weaker than it seems and it might start shaking if Russian people are shown the possibility to protest
  • Date: 31st January 2014
  • Summary: AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (JANUARY 31, 2014) (REUTERS) PUSSY RIOT MEMBERS, MARIA ALYOKHINA AND NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA, SEATED AT TABLE AHEAD OF GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE / JOURNALISTS IN ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PUSSY RIOT MEMBER, NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA, SAYING: "Putin's system is much weaker than it seems because the old system hinges on people being apolitical and thei
  • Embargoed: 15th February 2014 12:00
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  • Location: Netherlands
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4M47X099LBTLP6B76FQBJ4HL
  • Story Text: Two formerly jailed members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot said on Friday (January 31) Russian President Vladimir Putin's system is much weaker than it appears and it might start crumbling if the Russian people are shown the possibility to protest.

    "The old system hinges on people being apolitical and their not being able to see a possibility for them to protest," Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, told a news conference in Amsterdam organised by Human Rights Watch.

    "They see that everything is bad, but they do not know what to do about it. But when this path becomes clear to them then Putin will be gone," she added.
    Two of the three member band are in the Netherlands on invitation of Human Rights Watch. They are also attending a Human Rights Festival in Amsterdam.
    Pussy Riot became international symbols of human rights campaigners after being jailed in Russia for nearly two years.

    "The work we did before and the work we are currently engaged in towards independence, in the form of punk or human rights activities, we are trying to evoke conflict situations which encourages more people to reflect on the problems that we have pointed out," member Maria Alyokhina, 25, told the news conference.
    Pop icon Madonna said Wednesday (January 29) she will introduce Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina to the stage when they appear at an Amnesty International concert in New York next week, hailing the pair as "fellow freedom fighters."
    Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova are expected to speak at the concert organized by the human rights group on February 5 during their first trip to New York since being granted amnesty in December by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    A third Pussy Riot member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was freed when a judge suspended her sentence on appeal.
    Amnesty announced that the pair, who were convicted in 2012 of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after storming Moscow's biggest cathedral and beseeching the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin, would attend the concert earlier this month.
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