Dozens protest at embassy against Pussy Riot ruling

Several dozen protesters staged a demonstration outside the Russian Embassy in Dublin yesterday to express solidarity with the members of female punk band Pussy Riot who were jailed by a Moscow court last week.

Amnesty International, which organised the protest outside the embassy on Orwell Rd in Rathgar, said the demonstration was to highlight international opposition to the crackdown on freedom of expression in Russia.

The group called for the immediate, unconditional release of the band’s members, whom it described as prisoners of conscience.

The members of Pussy Riot — Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Maria Alyokhina — were sentenced to two years for staging a political protest inside a Moscow church last February.

Amnesty International Ireland’s programme director Noelleen Hartigan said the punk band had captured the public’s imagination by highlighting what was going on in Russia.

“In many ways the Pussy Riot case is just the tip of the iceberg. It is clearly designed to deter others from engaging in political protest in Russia which is obvious from the huge crackdown there has been on human rights’ defenders and political opponents.”

She said Amnesty was awaiting a response from the Russian ambassador, Maxim Peshkov, to representations the organisation had made about the Pussy Riot case.

About 30 people, many wearing masks to symbolise the silencing of opposition in Russia, took part in yesterday’s protest.

Among the protesters was Labour senator John Whelan, who said: “This case is like something harking back to the Stalinist era.”

He urged the Government to make representations to its Russian counterpart about the case.

A representative of the Russian Embassy could not be contacted for comment yesterday.