Pussy Riot Members Get 15 Days In Jail for World Cup Protest, Release New Song
Pussy Riot invaded the pitch during the World Cup final over the weekend, and now its members are set to do some time for the crime. The four participating members will spend 15 days in "administrative detention" for their actions.
In addition to serving jail time, Veronika Nikulshina, Olga Pakhtusova, Olga Kurachyova and Pyotr Verzilov are also effectively banned from attending any sporting events for the next three years according to Billboard. With Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup, the move made worldwide news, with one of the protesters even giving a high five to player Kylian Mbappe, who scored France’s final goal in their 4-2 victory over Croatia.
Undaunted, the band also released a new single today (July 17), dubbed "Track About Good Cop," they say it's "A Utopian dream about alternative political reality in which instead of arresting activists and putting them in jail cops are joining activists. The world where cops got rid of homophobia, stopped the war on drugs and actually understood that it's much better to be joyful and nice to people."
The video, which can be seen below, references police officers "kissing under the clouds" and features men and women dressed in military gear dancing on a snow-covered street. In the description of the video, Pussy Riot reiterated their stipulations over the arrests with the following statement:
We demand:
1. Free Pussy Riot members Olga Pahtusova, Olga Kuracheva, Nika Nikulshina, Peter Verzilov, who are jailed for 15 days for their "Policeman Enters The Game" action during the World Cup.
2. Free Oleg Sentsov and other political prisoners.
3. Don't put people in jail for likes and reposts.
4. Stop mass arrests at political rallies.
5. Stop fucking with Navalny.
6. Stop imprisoning so many people for 228 article of Criminal code (drug offenses).
7. Cancel 282 article of Russian Criminal code ("extremism", one of the main political criminal articles)
8. Freedom of speech and expression in Russia.
9. Give a federal TV-channel to an activist media outlet "Mediazona" (zona.media)Thank you.
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