Yesterday, the trial of three members of Russian female punk collective Pussy Riot began in Moscow. Charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility" for performing an anti-Putin song on the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February, the women—two of whom are mothers—face up to seven years in prison. Wearing brightly colored balaclavas and drawing inspiration from riot grrrl band Bikini Kill and feminist theorists like Simone de Beauvoir, Pussy Riot had staged guerrilla performances against the Russian president since last September, when Putin announced plans to serve a third term. Political dissent has long been a staple in punk music, and though the girls now admit to "an ethical mistake," they maintain that spreading their message shouldn't be deemed a criminal offense. “Pussy Riot is an anonymous feminist collective,” explained Bikini Kill member Tobi Vail in an email to TIME. “Putin can put them in jail, but he can’t destroy their method of protest.” While three Pussy Riot members—Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich—await their sentencing, the majority of the group remains at large. Watch their infamous "punk prayer service" and additional performances in Moscow below. (via New York Times)
