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The Russian anti-Kremlin feminist punk band and art collective known as Pussy Riot was declared an extremist organization by a Moscow court on Monday, banning its activities in Russia as part of a broader crackdown on dissent.
The decision, announced by the Moscow Judicial Service, was made at a closed court hearing at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office.
Exiled members of the group have often spoken out against Moscow's war in Ukraine, and in September a court sentenced them in absentia to prison terms of up to 13 years each after finding them guilty of lying about the Russian army.
The group, whose members were described by authorities as “foreign agents,” then denied the accusations, saying they were politically motivated.
Monday's ruling, under which the group now shares status with Jehovah's Witnesses and the political organization of late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, among others, will make it easier for authorities to target the group's supporters inside Russia or people who have worked with them in the past if they choose.
Russian activist punk band and art collective Pussy Riot are currently on the Canadian leg of their North American tour, 13 years after they were jailed for outspoken opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It could also potentially complicate the group's relationships with Western financial institutions.
The group's founder, Nadya Tolokonnikova, who is based outside Russia and calls herself “geographically anonymous” for security reasons, ignored the designation.
“I can say what I think [President Vladimir] Putin – that he is an aging sociopath, spreading his poison throughout the world like cancer. In today's Russia, telling the truth is extremism. Let it be so – then we are proud of the extremists,” said the 36-year-old man.
“This court ruling is intended to erase the very existence of Pussy Riot from the memory of Russians. Wearing a balaclava, having our song on your computer, or liking one of our posts can result in a prison sentence. Pussy Riot have effectively become “those who cannot be named,” she said.
Tolokonnikova, who served almost two years in a Russian prison camp in 2012-2013 after participating in an anti-Putin protest that the court considered a gross violation of public order motivated by religious hatred, is wanted by Russia on criminal charges of insulting the feelings of Orthodox believers.
“Threat to state security”
The Kremlin has said some censorship is necessary at a time when it says it is locked in an existential struggle with the West, which it accuses of trying to undermine national unity.
He does not comment on individual court decisions, which he says are a matter for the judiciary, which he says is independent despite critics saying otherwise.
The Kremlin says Putin, who sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022, remains the country's most popular politician today and that Russians are united in what he is doing. He dismisses groups such as Pussy Riot as exiled activists who do not represent mainstream opinion within Russia.
According to the TASS news agency, state prosecutors cited two past high-profile actions that they regarded as a threat to state security as motivation for their request to have the group declared extremist.
One of the incidents mentioned was the 2012 protest at the Moscow Cathedral, which Orthodox believers called blasphemous.
Another example was the invasion of a football field during the 2018 FIFA World Cup by a group dressed as police officers in Moscow's main stadium in front of Putin. According to the group, this action was then aimed at promoting freedom of speech.
Leonid Solovyov, the group's lawyer, was quoted by TASS last month as saying the group's actions were “ironic” and were not aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order.
