Here is a news article: The outcome was exactly what had been feared. On Friday, a Moscow district court found three members of the punk band Pussy Riot guilty. They were each sentenced to two years in prison. It was a verdict that surely would not have been delivered against the will of President Vladimir Putin. 
  
 The public debate in Russia over the handling of the three musicians -- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina -- was passionate and controversial. Writers, artists and intellectuals expressed their solidarity with the defendants. 
  
 The trial drew no shortage of criticism on the uncensored radio station Echo Moskvy, which is sympathetic to the opposition, and other radio stations, as well as in daily and weekly newspapers. The debate was a far cry from what would have been the case in a totalitarian society. Compared to the Soviet Union of the 1980s, a state without freedom of speech or freedom of travel, today's Russia has come a long way. 
  
 That, however, is little consolation in the light of current events in Moscow. Russia's powerful seem to be unaware of the degree to which the politicized trial of Pussy Riot is a symptom of the deep crisis that currently afflicts Russian society. 
  
 Doing Themselves a Disservice 
  
 It was inevitable that the stunt by the punk band in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior would provoke objections. By entering the altar space and insulting the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church as a "suka" ("bitch") in their song, the band hurt the feelings of many believers. 
  
 The performance, with its "blasphemous words which insult Christians," had deeply shocked "the faithful of all religious communities," read a statement by the Interreligious Council of Russia, which was also signed by the Federation of Jewish Communities. 
  
 Some Orthodox Christians also separately called for the activists to be severely punished. One arch-abbot even went so far as to write, in a Moscow weekly paper, that "the country will go under if you do not punish profanity." 
  
 The court has now ruled that the three women had been "motivated by religious enmity and hatred." But those in power seem not to understand that the Church and state are doing themselves a disservice by locking up the three young women, two of whom are mothers of small children. 
  
 Rejecting Corruption and Abuse of Power 
  
 The judgment against Pussy Riot will likely not only cause problems for Russia at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Above all, the hope of those in power that the judgment will contribute to the stability of society could prove to be a false belief. The trial has divided Russian society deeper than any other incident in the Putin era. 
  
 There were voices that called for moderation during the legal proceedings even from within the ruling United Russia party. The leader of a United Russia district party organization in Putin's home city of St. Petersburg wrote a sympathetic letter to the three defendants saying that, even though their stunt had been "bad," the threatened punishment was completely unreasonable. "I am sure," he added, "that the majority of my party colleagues think the same way." 
  
 That means that, despite the authoritarian tendencies of supposedly strong men, Russia will not become a totalitarian regime again. And the closing argument of defendant Maria Alyokhina, who said that "Russia as a state" has for a long time resembled "a thoroughly diseased organism," reflects an opinion that is shared by many state officials, even including longtime colleagues of Putin's in the security services. There, too, there is opposition to policies that have allowed corruption and abuse of power to grow. 
  
 'War and Blood' 
  
 The opposition Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov, who like Putin is a KGB veteran, is one of those who are calling for the rule of law in the parliament and at opposition rallies. Gudkov is not a revolutionary, but a moderate social democrat. 
  
 The powers-that-be reacted harshly to Gudkov's criticism. A company he founded was shut down and several hundred employees lost their jobs. Now the Moscow authorities want to impeach him for "illegal business activity" and even strip him of his parliamentary immunity. 
  
 By turning basically harmless artists into criminals, the regime has transformed the trial against Pussy Riot into a political time bomb. With its hard line against the oppositional civil society, the state is conjuring up a scenario that Olga Allyonova, a journalist with the liberal Moscow newspaper Kommersant, warned of in March. 
  
 If a hard line drives the opposition to "hate and malice," Allyonova wrote, it will not lead to peace, a just social order or an honest state power. Instead, she concluded, "it will lead to revolution and to war and blood." ||||| Pussy Riot Verdict 
  
 The Moscow trial of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot, which ended Friday with a two-year jail sentence for ‘felony hooliganism,’ showed just how far Russia is traveling back in time. Masha Gessen on the 17th-century court. 
  
 On the eve of the verdict I found myself in New York City, at a reading of some of the Pussy Riot members’ statements, letters, and poems. I was on vacation with my kids, but being away from Moscow, where everyone I know was protesting outside the courthouse, made me feel even more helpless than I did when I was there with them a few days earlier. So I asked if I could help with the reading. 
  
 The next day three members of Pussy Riot would be convicted of felony hooliganism and sentenced to two years in penal colonies—for a protest they staged inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Feb. 21. The cathedral had been virtually empty during the morning hours, and the protest lasted all of 40 seconds before the women were removed by security. But church staff members testified during the trial that they were deeply traumatized by observing the young women in brightly colored dresses and balaclavas lip-sync to a recording of what Pussy Riot calls its punk prayer: “Mother of God, cast Putin out.” 
  
 I listened to one of New York’s performance artists read a Pussy Riot manifesto sent from jail. “Patriarch Kirill [head of the Russian Orthodox Church] has repeatedly evangelized on behalf of the figure of Putin—clearly no saint—and continues to urge his parishioners not to participate in protest rallies...We respond to the political activity of the faithful, and counter the patriarch’s efforts to distort the truth on behalf of all believers. And we needed to sing it at the altar, not on the street in front of the temple—that is, in a place where women are strictly forbidden. The fact is, the church is promoting a very conservative worldview that does not fit into such values as freedom of choice, the formation of political identity, gender identity, or sexual identity, critical thinking, multiculturalism, or attention to contemporary culture. It seems to us that the Orthodox Church currently lacks all of these virtues.” 
  
 I suddenly realized these texts sounded better in English than they do in Russian. It wasn’t that the translators had improved the quality of the writing: the originals, which I had read in Russian, had been clear and cogent and surprisingly erudite for three very young women—they range in ages from 22 to 30—who had been known for staging radical actions, not for writing political commentary. The problem with the writing in Russian was that the women were speaking the language of the modern world in a country that is rapidly traveling backward in time. 
  
 Those of us who live in Russia often feel like we have been forced into a time machine. Now the rest of the world has seen it happen: three women shaped by 20th-century thought tried by a 17th-century court. Consider the testimony of altar warden Vasily Tsyganyuk, classified as a victim because he claimed to have suffered psychological trauma as a result of the performance. 
  
 VICTIM: “Those who are possessed can exhibit different behaviors. They can scream, beat their heads against the floor, jump up and down...” 
  
 DEFENSE ATTORNEY NIKOLAI POLOZOV: “Do they dance?” 
  
 VICTIM: “Well, no.” 
  
 JUDGE: “Stop questioning him about those who are possessed. Tsyganyuk is not a medical professional and is not qualified to render a diagnosis.” 
  
 Or the testimony of another altar warden, Pavel Zheleznov, also classified as a victim. He described trying to restrain the women at the cathedral. One of them, he said, broke free and began crossing herself. 
  
 JUDGE: “Did she cross herself the way all citizens do?” 
  
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 VICTIM: “I don’t remember exactly. But in essence it was a parody of crossing herself, a satire. People should cross themselves with piety and without rushing. She crossed herself kind of rapidly. This was not the sort of cross with which Orthodox Christians should bless themselves.” 
  
 Or consider this. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the informal leader of the group—and also the youngest of the three women—asked many of the prosecution’s witnesses and “victims” whether they considered the word feminist to be obscene. All gave the stock answer: yes, if it is said in a church. “For an Orthodox believer it is an insult, an obscenity,” said cathedral security guard Sergei Beloglazov. When Tolokonnikova asked him whether he knew the meaning of the word, the judge disallowed the question. 
  
 Imagine what would have happened if the judges in the Salem witch trials had encountered not their contemporaries but ours. Or just read the verdict rendered Friday by judge Marina Syrova. She quoted a court psychiatrist who had concluded that Tolokonnikova suffers from a “mixed personality disorder” with symptoms such as “stubbornness and a tendency to insist categorically on her own opinion as well as a tendency toward oppositional forms of behavior.” Sound awkward in English? That’s because it’s not just from a different world but from a different era. 
  
 Fifteen minutes after quoting the psychiatrist, the judge announced the women’s sentences. The members of Pussy Riot, seated behind a Plexiglass partition lest they escape or attack someone, laughed. Outside the courthouse, where a protest had been underway for hours, some people cried. ||||| Editor's note: Rachel Denber is deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. 
  
 Moscow (CNN) -- There is no basic human right to barge into a church to make a political statement, jump around near the altar, and shout obscenities. But there is most certainly the right not to lose your liberty for doing so, even if the act is offensive. 
  
 But that is exactly what happened Friday. A court in Moscow sentenced the three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison. 
  
 In my two decades monitoring human rights in Russia I've never seen anything like the Pussy Riot case -- the media attention, the outpouring of public support, the celebrity statements for the detained and criminally charged punk band members. 
  
 The image of three young women facing down an inexorable system of unfair justice and an oppressive state has crystallized for many in the West what is wrong with human rights in Russia. To be sure, it is deeply troubling. 
  
 For me, even more shocking were the images of Stanislav Markelov, a human rights lawyer, lying on the sidewalk with the back of his head blown off in 2009, or the body of tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009 after he blew the whistle on a massive government extortion scheme. 
  
 The Pussy Riot case shines a much needed, if highly disturbing, spotlight on the issue of freedom of expression in post-Soviet Russia 
  
 On February 21, four members of the group performed what they call a "punk prayer" in Moscow's Russian Orthodox Christ the Savior Cathedral. They danced around and shouted some words to their song, "Virgin Mary, Get Putin Out." The stunt lasted less than a minute before the women were forcibly removed. 
  
 The same day, a video widely shared on social media showed a montage of the stunt with the song spliced in. The song criticizes the Russian Orthodox Church's alleged close relationship with the Kremlin and the personally close relationship of President Vladimir V. Putin with the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. 
  
 Three of the band members were tried on criminal "hooliganism" charges. Their trial was theater of the absurd. In their closing statements, the women and their lawyers delivered devastating critiques of the state of justice and civic freedoms in Russia. 
  
 During the Soviet era, the human rights landscape in Russia was stark. But since then the situation has been harder to figure out, often making it easier for outsiders simply to give the government a pass. But the devil is in the details. 
  
 It has been incredibly difficult to pin down any involvement of officials in the beatings and murders of investigative journalists and human rights activists. And the government, while not silencing civil society groups outright, tries to marginalize, discredit, and humiliate them, and crush them with heavy-handed bureaucracy, trumped-up accusations, threats and the like. 
  
 Whatever misdemeanor the three women incurred for their antics in the church should not have been transformed by the authorities into a criminal offense that in effect punishes them for their speech. It's typical, though, of how the authorities try to keep a lid on controversial issues. The Russian think tank SOVA has documented dozens of cases in recent years in which the authorities used the threat of extremism charges to silence critics. 
  
 This also isn't the first time Russian authorities have misused criminal legislation to stifle critical artistic expression. In 2010 a Moscow district court found the co-organizers of a controversial art exhibit guilty of the vague charge of "inciting religious hatred." The art exhibit organizers were fined. 
  
 By making the Pussy Riot band members await trial in jail for almost six months, the authorities made clear how they plan to set boundaries for political criticism. 
  
 After a winter of unprecedented, peaceful opposition protests, a dozen demonstrators whom the authorities claim were involved in a scuffle with police during a mass demonstration in May have been arrested and are being charged with crimes grossly disproportionate to their alleged actions. Police have searched opposition leaders' homes. 
  
 Laws rammed through Russia's parliament this summer sent more signals: criminal liability for leaders of nongovernmental organizations for "serious breaches" of new restrictive regulations; much tougher sanctions for violating rules on public assembly; and new restrictions on the Internet that could easily shut down big social networking sites. Critics of the Kremlin have been subject to vicious harassment, intimidation and grotesque public smear campaigns. 
  
 For years Russian human rights defenders have tried to draw attention to the lack of independence of the courts. With the unprecedented attention to the Pussy Riot trial, the surreal state of justice when political interests are at stake is there for all to see. What we really should be wondering isn't why Pussy Riot is so distinctive, but whether it's just the tip of the iceberg. 
  
 Too often, foreign governments have resorted to wishful thinking about the direction Russia is heading. Talking about human rights at a high level -- where all things in Russia are decided -- is unpleasant business. It might be hard, but Russia won't respect other governments if they shy away. 
  
 If three women in the defendants' cage had the courage to speak out about where Russia is headed, surely members of the international community should too. They, at least, won't be thrown in jail. 
  
 Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter 
  
 Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion 
  
 The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rachel Denber. |||||
A summary of this is?
– The 2-year prison sentence given to Russian punk band Pussy Riot yesterday has sparked angry commentary from Western observers. Among the reactions: Voices in the ruling United Russia party called for moderation in the sentencing, which means "Russia will not become a totalitarian regime again," notes Uwe Klussmen at Der Spiegel. But "by turning basically harmless artists into criminals, the regime has transformed the trial against Pussy Riot into a political time bomb." He quotes a Moscow journalist who predicts that "it will lead to revolution and to war and blood." At Daily Beast, Masha Gessen sees a resemblance to the Salem witch trials. The sentencing judge said a member of Pussy Riot has a "mixed personality disorder" that includes "stubbornness and a tendency to insist categorically on her own opinion as well as a tendency toward oppositional forms of behavior." Writes Gessen: "Sound awkward in English? That’s because it’s not just from a different world but from a different era." The "stark" human rights drama of Soviet times has morphed into a situation that's "harder to figure out, often making it easier for outsiders simply to give the government a pass," writes Rachel Denber at CNN. But under Vladimir Putin, critics have been silenced or murdered; now Pussy Riot has shown us how Russia works. "What we really should be wondering isn't why Pussy Riot is so distinctive, but whether it's just the tip of the iceberg."
Här är en nyhetsartikel: Resultatet var exakt vad man hade fruktat. På fredagen fann en distriktsdomstol i Moskva tre medlemmar i punkbandet Pussy Riot skyldiga. De dömdes var och en till två års fängelse. Det var en dom som säkert inte skulle ha avkunnats mot president Vladimir Putins vilja. Den offentliga debatten i Ryssland om hanteringen av de tre musikerna - Nadezjda Tolokonnikova, Jekaterina Samutsevitj och Maria Aljokhina - var passionerad och kontroversiell. Författare, konstnärer och intellektuella uttryckte sin solidaritet med de åtalade. Rättegången drog ingen brist på kritik på den ocensurerade radiostationen Echo Moskvy, som är sympatisk mot oppositionen, och andra radiostationer, samt i dags- och veckotidningar. Debatten var långt ifrån vad som skulle ha varit fallet i ett totalitärt samhälle. Jämfört med 1980-talets Sovjetunionen, en stat utan yttrandefrihet eller resefrihet, har dagens Ryssland kommit långt. Det är emellertid ingen stor tröst mot bakgrund av de aktuella händelserna i Moskva. Rysslands makthavare tycks vara omedvetna om i vilken utsträckning den politiserade rättegången mot Pussy Riot är ett symptom på den djupa kris som för närvarande drabbar det ryska samhället. Att göra sig själv en Disservice Det var oundvikligt att punkbandets stunt i Moskvas katedral Christ the Savior skulle framkalla invändningar. Genom att gå in i altarrymden och förolämpa den rysk-ortodoxa kyrkans patriark som en "suka" ("bitch") i sin sång sårade bandet många troendes känslor. Föreställningen, med sina "hädiska ord som förolämpar de kristna", hade djupt chockerat "de trogna i alla religiösa samfund", läst ett uttalande av det interreligiösa rådet i Ryssland, som också undertecknades av Federation of Jewish Communities. En del ortodoxa kristna krävde också separat att aktivisterna skulle straffas hårt. En ärke-abbot gick till och med så långt att han skrev, i en veckotidning i Moskva, att "landet kommer att gå under om man inte straffar svordomar". Domstolen har nu slagit fast att de tre kvinnorna hade "motiverats av religiös fiendskap och hat". Men makthavarna tycks inte förstå att kyrkan och staten gör sig själva en otjänst genom att låsa in de tre unga kvinnorna, varav två är mödrar till små barn. Avvisar korruption och maktmissbruk Domen mot Pussy Riot kommer sannolikt inte bara att orsaka problem för Ryssland vid Europadomstolen för mänskliga rättigheter i Strasbourg. Framför allt kan de makthavandes hopp om att domen skall bidra till samhällets stabilitet visa sig vara en falsk tro. Rättegången har splittrat det ryska samhället djupare än någon annan incident under Putin-eran. Det fanns röster som krävde återhållsamhet under rättsprocesserna även inifrån det styrande partiet Förenade Ryssland. Ledaren för en enhetsrysslandsdistriktspartiorganisation i Putins hemstad Sankt Petersburg skrev ett sympatiskt brev till de tre åtalade och sade att även om deras stunt hade varit "dåligt", var det hotade straffet helt orimligt. "Jag är säker", tillade han, "att majoriteten av mina partikolleger tänker likadant." Detta innebär att Ryssland, trots de auktoritära tendenserna hos förment starka män, inte kommer att bli en totalitär regim igen. Och den tilltalade Maria Alyokhinas avslutande argument, som sade att "Ryssland som stat" länge har liknat "en grundligt sjuk organism", återspeglar en åsikt som delas av många statliga tjänstemän, även om Putins mångåriga kollegor ingår i säkerhetstjänsten. Det finns också ett motstånd mot en politik som har gjort det möjligt att öka korruptionen och maktmissbruket. ”Krig och blod” Oppositionen Dumas ställföreträdare Gennady Gudkov, som liksom Putin är en KGB-veteran, är en av dem som kräver rättsstatsprincipen i parlamentet och vid oppositionella sammankomster. Gudkov är ingen revolutionär, utan en moderat socialdemokrat. Makterna-som-vara reagerade hårt på Gudkovs kritik. Ett företag som han grundade lades ner och flera hundra anställda förlorade sina jobb. Nu vill myndigheterna i Moskva ställa honom inför rätta för "olaglig affärsverksamhet" och till och med beröva honom hans parlamentariska immunitet. Genom att förvandla i princip ofarliga konstnärer till brottslingar har regimen förvandlat rättegången mot Pussy Riot till en politisk tidsinställd bomb. Med sin hårda linje mot det oppositionella civila samhället frammanar staten ett scenario som Olga Allyonova, journalist med den liberala Moskvatidningen Kommersant, varnade för i mars. Om en hård linje driver oppositionen till "hat och illvilja", skrev Allyonova, kommer det inte att leda till fred, en rättvis samhällsordning eller en ärlig statsmakt. I stället, avslutade hon, "kommer det att leda till revolution och till krig och blod." Pussy Riot Verdict Moskvarättegången mot den ryska punkgruppen Pussy Riot, som slutade på fredagen med ett tvåårigt fängelsestraff för ”felaktig huliganism”, visade precis hur långt Ryssland reser bakåt i tiden. Masha Gessen vid 1600-talets hov. Strax före domen befann jag mig i New York vid en uppläsning av några av Pussy Riots medlemmars uttalanden, brev och dikter. Jag var på semester med mina barn, men att vara borta från Moskva, där alla jag känner protesterade utanför tingshuset, fick mig att känna mig ännu mer hjälplös än jag gjorde när jag var där med dem några dagar tidigare. Så jag frågade om jag kunde hjälpa till med läsningen. Dagen därpå skulle tre medlemmar av Pussy Riot dömas för grov huliganism och dömas till två års fängelsekolonier – för en protest de iscensatte inne i Moskvas Kristi Kristi katedral den 21 februari. Katedralen hade varit praktiskt taget tom under morgontimmarna, och protesten varade i hela 40 sekunder innan kvinnorna avlägsnades av säkerhet. Men kyrkans personal vittnade under rättegången om att de var djupt traumatiserade genom att observera de unga kvinnorna i färgglada klänningar och balaklavas läppsynk till en inspelning av vad Pussy Riot kallar sin punkbön: “Guds moder, kasta Putin ut.” Jag lyssnade på en av New Yorks performanceartister läste ett Pussy Riot-manifest skickat från fängelset. “Patriark Kirill [huvud för den rysk-ortodoxa kyrkan] har upprepade gånger evangeliserat på uppdrag av Putins figur – uppenbarligen inget helgon – och fortsätter att uppmana sina församlingsbor att inte delta i protestmöten ... Vi svarar på den politiska verksamheten av de trogna, och motverka patriarkens ansträngningar att förvränga sanningen på uppdrag av alla troende. Och vi behövde sjunga den vid altaret, inte på gatan framför templet – det vill säga på en plats där kvinnor är strängt förbjudna. Faktum är att kyrkan främjar en mycket konservativ världsbild som inte passar in i sådana värderingar som valfrihet, bildandet av politisk identitet, könsidentitet, eller sexuell identitet, kritiskt tänkande, mångkulturalism, eller uppmärksamhet till samtida kultur. Det verkar som om den ortodoxa kyrkan för närvarande saknar alla dessa dygder.” Jag insåg plötsligt att dessa texter lät bättre på engelska än de gör på ryska. Det var inte så att översättarna hade förbättrat skrivkvaliteten: originalen, som jag hade läst på ryska, hade varit tydliga och övertygande och förvånansvärt erudit för tre mycket unga kvinnor – de varierade i åldrarna 22 till 30 – som hade varit kända för att iscensätta radikala handlingar, inte för att skriva politiska kommentarer. Problemet med skriften på ryska var att kvinnorna talade den moderna världens språk i ett land som snabbt färdas bakåt i tiden. De av oss som bor i Ryssland känner ofta att vi har tvingats in i en tidsmaskin. Nu har resten av världen sett det ske: tre kvinnor formade av 1900-talets tankegångar prövade av en 1600-talsdomstol. Tänk till exempel på altarvaktmästaren Vasily Tsyganyuks vittnesmål, klassificerat som ett offer, eftersom han påstod sig ha drabbats av psykologiska trauman till följd av föreställningen. VIKTIM: ” De som är besatta kan uppvisa olika beteenden. De kan skrika, slå sina huvuden mot golvet, hoppa upp och ner...” FÖRSVARA ATTORNEJ NIKOLAI POLOZOV: ”Dansar de?” VIKTIM: ”Nåja, nej.” DOM: ”Sluta ifrågasätta honom om dem som är besatta. Tsyganyuk är inte en läkare och är inte kvalificerad att göra en diagnos.” Eller vittnesmål av en annan altardirektör, Pavel Zjeleznov, också klassad som ett offer. Han beskrev försöken att hålla tillbaka kvinnorna vid katedralen. En av dem, sade han, bröt sig loss och började korsa sig själv. DOMARE: “Har hon korsat sig själv på samma sätt som alla medborgare gör?” Få Besten i din inkorg! Daily Digest Starta och avsluta din dag med toppnyheterna från The Daily Beast. Fuskark En snabb, smart sammanfattning av alla nyheter du behöver veta (och inget du inte vet). Genom att klicka på "Prenumerera" samtycker du till att ha läst användarvillkoren och sekretesspolicyn Prenumerera Tack! Du prenumererar nu på Daily Digest och Cheat Sheet. Vi kommer inte att dela din e-post med någon av någon anledning VICTIM: “Jag minns inte exakt. Men i grund och botten var det en parodi på att korsa sig själv, en satir. Människor bör korsa sig med fromhet och utan att rusa. Hon gick över sig ganska snabbt. Detta var inte den typ av kors som ortodoxa kristna borde välsigna sig med.” Eller överväga detta. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, gruppens informella ledare – och även den yngsta av de tre kvinnorna – frågade många av åklagarnas vittnen och “offer” om de ansåg ordet feminist vara oanständigt. Alla gav aktiens svar: ja, om det sägs i en kyrka. — För en ortodox troende är det en förolämpning, en oanständighet, sade domkyrkovakten Sergej Beloglazov. Då Tolokonnikova frågade honom om han visste ordets innebörd, avslog domaren frågan. Tänk vad som hade hänt om domarna i häxrättegångarna i Salem inte hade stött på sina samtida utan våra. Eller läste domen från domare Marina Syrova på fredag. Hon citerade en hovpsykiatriker som hade kommit fram till att Tolokonnikova lider av en ”blandad personlighetsstörning” med symtom som ”stumhet och en tendens att kategoriskt insistera på sin egen åsikt samt en tendens till oppositionella beteendeformer”. Låter det pinsamt på engelska? Det beror på att det inte bara är från en annan värld utan från en annan era. Femton minuter efter att ha citerat psykiatern meddelade domaren kvinnodomarna. Medlemmarna i Pussy Riot, som satt bakom en plexiglasvägg, skrattade. Utanför tingshuset, där en protest hade pågått i timmar, grät en del människor. Redaktörens anmärkning: Rachel Denber är vice chef för avdelningen för Europa och Centralasien vid Human Rights Watch. Moskva (CNN) -- Det finns ingen grundläggande mänsklig rätt att pråma in i en kyrka för att göra ett politiskt uttalande, hoppa runt nära altaret och ropa oanständigheter. Men det finns säkerligen rätt att inte förlora sin frihet för att göra det, även om handlingen är kränkande. Men det är precis vad som hände på fredag. En domstol i Moskva dömde de tre medlemmarna i det feministiska punkbandet Pussy Riot till två års fängelse. Under mina två decennier som övervakade mänskliga rättigheter i Ryssland har jag aldrig sett något liknande Pussy Riot-fallet -- massmedias uppmärksamhet, utgjutandet av offentligt stöd, kändisuttalandena för de fängslade och kriminellt åtalade punkbandsmedlemmarna. Bilden av tre unga kvinnor som står inför ett obevekligt system av orättvis rättvisa och en förtryckande stat har för många i väst kristalliserat vad som är fel med de mänskliga rättigheterna i Ryssland. Det är verkligen djupt oroande. För mig var bilderna av Stanislav Markelov, en människorättsadvokat, som låg på trottoaren med avblåst bakhuvud 2009, eller kroppen av skatteadvokaten Sergej Magnitskij, som dog i fängelse 2009 efter att han blåste i visselpipan på ett massivt statligt utpressningsprogram. Fallet Pussy Riot lyser upp en välbehövlig, om än mycket störande, strålkastarljuset på frågan om yttrandefrihet i det postsovjetiska Ryssland Den 21 februari utförde fyra medlemmar i gruppen vad de kallar en "punkbön" i Moskvas rysk-ortodoxa Kristus Frälsarens katedral. De dansade runt och ropade några ord till sin sång, "Virgin Mary, Get Putin Out". Stuntet varade mindre än en minut innan kvinnorna tvångsförflyttades. Samma dag visade en video som delades allmänt på sociala medier ett montage av stuntet med låten indelad. Sången kritiserar den rysk-ortodoxa kyrkans påstådda nära förhållande till Kreml och president Vladimir V. Putins personligen nära förhållande till patriarken inom den rysk-ortodoxa kyrkan. Tre av bandmedlemmarna ställdes inför rätta på kriminella "hooliganism"-anklagelser. Deras rättegång var en teater för det absurda. I sina avslutande uttalanden framförde kvinnorna och deras advokater förödande kritik mot rättvisans och de medborgerliga friheternas tillstånd i Ryssland. Under sovjettiden var människorättslandskapet i Ryssland starkt. Men sedan dess har situationen varit svårare att komma underfund med, vilket ofta gjort det lättare för utomstående att helt enkelt ge regeringen en passning. Men djävulen är i detaljerna. Det har varit otroligt svårt att sätta stopp för tjänstemäns inblandning i misshandel och mord på undersökande journalister och människorättsaktivister. Och samtidigt som regeringen inte tystar grupper i det civila samhället rent ut försöker den marginalisera, misskreditera och förödmjuka dem och krossa dem med hårdhänt byråkrati, falska anklagelser, hot och liknande. Vilken förseelse de tre kvinnorna än ådragit sig för sina upptåg i kyrkan, torde av myndigheterna icke ha förvandlats till en brottslig förseelse, som i själva verket straffar dem för deras tal. Det är dock typiskt för hur myndigheterna försöker hålla ett lock på kontroversiella frågor. Den ryska tankesmedjan SOVA har de senaste åren dokumenterat dussintals fall där myndigheterna använt hotet om extremismanklagelser för att tysta kritiker. Det är inte heller första gången ryska myndigheter missbrukar straffrätt för att kväva kritiska konstnärliga uttryck. 2010 fann en distriktsdomstol i Moskva medarrangörerna av en kontroversiell konstutställning skyldiga till den vaga anklagelsen att "anstifta religiöst hat". Konstutställningsarrangörerna dömdes till böter. Genom att få Pussy Riot-bandmedlemmarna att vänta på rättegång i fängelse i nästan sex månader klargjorde myndigheterna hur de planerar att sätta gränser för politisk kritik. Efter en vinter av aldrig tidigare skådade, fredliga oppositionsprotester har ett dussin demonstranter som myndigheterna hävdar varit inblandade i ett bråk med polisen under en massdemonstration i maj arresterats och anklagas för brott som är grovt oproportionerliga i förhållande till deras påstådda handlingar. Polisen har sökt igenom oppositionsledarnas hem. Lagar som slog igenom i Rysslands parlament i sommar sände fler signaler: straffrättsligt ansvar för ledare för icke-statliga organisationer för "allvarliga överträdelser" av nya restriktiva bestämmelser, mycket hårdare sanktioner för brott mot reglerna för offentlig sammankomst och nya restriktioner på Internet som lätt kunde stänga av stora sociala nätverkssajter. Kritiker mot Kreml har utsatts för våldsamma trakasserier, hotelser och groteska offentliga smutskastningskampanjer. I åratal har ryska människorättsförsvarare försökt uppmärksamma domstolarnas bristande oberoende. Med den oöverträffade uppmärksamheten på Pussy Riot-rättegången finns det surrealistiska rättsläget när politiska intressen står på spel för alla. Det vi egentligen borde undra är inte varför Pussy Riot är så utmärkande, men om det bara är toppen av isberget. Alltför ofta har utländska regeringar tagit till önsketänkande om vilken riktning Ryssland är på väg mot. Att tala om mänskliga rättigheter på en hög nivå -- där allt i Ryssland beslutas -- är obehagliga affärer. Det kan vara svårt, men Ryssland respekterar inte andra regeringar om de skyggar. Om tre kvinnor i de åtalades bur hade modet att tala ut om vart Ryssland är på väg, så borde säkert även medlemmar av det internationella samfundet göra det. De kommer åtminstone inte att kastas i fängelse. Följ @CNNOpinion på Twitter Följ med oss på Facebook/CNNOpinion De åsikter som uttrycks i denna kommentar är enbart Rachel Denbers. En sammanfattning av detta är?
Here is a news article: The result was exactly what had been feared. On Friday, a Moscow district court found three members of punk band Pussy Riot guilty. They were each sentenced to two years in prison. It was a judgment that would certainly not have been handed down against the will of President Putin. The public debate in Russia on the management of the three musicians - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Aljokhina - was passionate and controversial. Writers, artists and intellectuals expressed their solidarity with the defendants. The trial drew no lack of criticism on the uncensored radio station Echo Moskvy, which is sympathetic to the opposition, and other radio stations, as well as in daily and weekly newspapers. The debate was far from what would have been the case in a totalitarian society. Compared to the Soviet Union of the 1980s, a state without freedom of expression or travel, today's Russia has come a long way. However, it is not a great comfort in the light of the current events in Moscow. Russia's rulers seem to be unaware of the extent to which the politicized trial of Pussy Riot is a symptom of the deep crisis currently affecting Russian society. Making Yourself a Disservice It was inevitable that the punk band's stunt in Moscow's Cathedral Christ the Savior would raise objections. By entering altar space and insulting the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church as a "suka" ("bitch") in his song, the band hurt the feelings of many believers. The performance, with its "blasphemous words insulting the Christians", had deeply shocked "the faithful in all religious communities", read a statement by the Interreligious Council in Russia, which was also signed by the Federation of Jewish Communities. Some Orthodox Christians also separately demanded that activists be severely punished. An arch-abbot even went so far as to write, in a weekly Moscow newspaper, that "the country will perish if you do not punish profanity". The court has now ruled that the three women had been "motivated by religious enmity and hatred". But the rulers do not seem to understand that the church and the state are doing themselves a disservice by locking up the three young women, two of whom are mothers of young children. Rejecting corruption and abuse of power The judgment against Pussy Riot is not likely to cause problems for Russia alone at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Above all, the hope of those in power that judgment will contribute to the stability of society can prove to be a false belief. The trial has split Russian society deeper than any other incident during the Putin era. There were voices that required restraint during the legal proceedings even from within the ruling party of United Russia. The leader of a Unity Russia District Party organization in Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg wrote a sympathetic letter to the three defendants saying that although their stunt had been "bad", it was threatened the punishment completely unreasonable. "I'm sure," he added, "that the majority of my party colleagues think the same." This means that, despite the authoritarian tendencies of supposedly strong men, Russia will not become a totalitarian regime again. And the closing argument of the defendant Maria Alyokhina, who said that "Russia as a state" has long resembled "a thoroughly ill organism", reflects an opinion shared by many state officials, although Putin's long-standing colleagues are part of the security services. There is also opposition to policies that have allowed corruption and abuse of power to be increased. ‘War and Blood’ Opposition Dumas deputy Gennady Gudkov, who, like Putin, is a KGB veteran, is one of those who demand the rule of law in Parliament and at opposition gatherings. Gudkov is not a revolutionary, but a moderate Social Democrat. The powers-that-be reacted harshly to Gudkov's criticism. A company he founded was shut down and several hundred employees lost their jobs. Now the Moscow authorities want to bring him to justice for "illegal business" and even deprive him of his parliamentary immunity. By turning virtually harmless artists into criminals, the regime has turned the trial of Pussy Riot into a political time bomb. With its hard line towards opposition civil society, the state conjures up a scenario that Olga Allyonova, journalist with the liberal Moscow newspaper Kommersant, warned of in March. If a hard line drives the opposition to "hate and malice," Allyonova wrote, it will not lead to peace, a just social order or an honest state power. Instead, she concluded, "it will lead to revolution and to war and blood." The Pussy Riot Verdict Moscow trial of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot, which ended on Friday with a two-year prison sentence for ‘wrong hooliganism’, showed just how far Russia travels back in time. Masha Gessen at the 17th century court. Shortly before the verdict, I was in New York City at a reading of the statements, letters, and poems of some of Pussy Riot’s members. I was on vacation with my children, but being away from Moscow, where everyone I know protested outside the courthouse, made me feel even more helpless than I did when I was there with them a few days earlier. So I asked if I could help with the reading. The next day, three members of Pussy Riot were to be sentenced for gross hooliganism and sentenced to two years of prison colonies – for a protest they staged inside the Cathedral of Moscow Christ on February 21. The cathedral had been virtually empty during the morning hours, and the protest lasted as long as 40 seconds before the women were removed by safety. But the church staff testified during the trial that they were deeply traumatized by observing the young women in colorful dresses and balaclavas lip sync to a recording of what Pussy Riot calls his punk prayer: “Mother of God, throw Putin out.” I listened to one of New York’s performance artists read a Pussy Riot manifesto sent from prison. “Patriark Kirill [head of the Russian Orthodox Church] has repeatedly evangelized on behalf of Putin’s figure—obviously no saint—and continues to urge his parishioners not to attend protest meetings...We respond to the political activity of the faithful, and counter the efforts of the patriarch to distort the truth on behalf of all believers. And we needed to sing it at the altar, not on the street in front of the temple—that is, in a place where women are strictly forbidden. In fact, the church promotes a highly conservative worldview that does not fit into such values as freedom of choice, the formation of political identity, gender identity, or sexual identity, critical thinking, multiculturalism, or attention to contemporary culture. It seems that the Orthodox Church currently lacks all these virtues.” I suddenly realized that these lyrics sounded better in English than they do in Russian. It was not that the translators had improved the quality of writing: the originals, which I had read in Russian, had been clear and convincing and surprisingly erudite for three very young women – they varied between the ages of 22 and 30 – who had been known to stage radical actions, not to write political comments. The problem with writing in Russian was that women spoke the language of the modern world in a country that travels rapidly backwards in time. Those of us who live in Russia often feel that we have been forced into a time machine. Now the rest of the world has seen it happen: three women shaped by 20th-century thinking tried by a 17th-century court. Consider, for example, the testimony of altar keeper Vasily Tsyganyuk, classified as a victim, as he claimed to have suffered psychological traumas as a result of the performance. IMPORTANCE: “Those who are possessed may show different behaviors. They can scream, bang their heads to the floor, jump up and down..." DISAPPEAR TO NIKOLAI POLOZOV: "Do they dance?" WEIGHTIM: "Well, no." DOM: "Stop questioning him about those who are possessed. Tsyganyuk is not a doctor and is not qualified to make a diagnosis.” Or the testimony of another altar director, Pavel Zheleznov, also classified as a victim. He described the attempts to hold back the women at the cathedral. One of them, he said, broke free and began to cross himself. JUDGMENT: “Has she crossed herself the same way as any citizen does?” Get the Beast in your inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top news from The Daily Beast. Cheating A quick, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't know). By clicking "Subscribe", you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank you! You are now subscribing to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We won’t share your email with anyone for any reason VICTIM: “I don’t remember exactly. But basically it was a parody of crossing yourself, a satire. People should cross with piety and without rushing. She went over pretty fast. This was not the kind of cross that Orthodox Christians should bless themselves with.” Or consider this. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the group's informal leader – and also the youngest of the three women – asked many of the prosecutors' witnesses and “victims” if they considered the word feminist to be indecent. Everyone gave the stock's answer: yes, if it's said in a church. “For an Orthodox believer, it is an insult, an indecency,” said the cathedral act Sergei Beloglazov. When Tolokonnikova asked him if he knew the meaning of the word, the judge rejected the question. Imagine what would have happened if the judges in the Salem witch trials had not encountered their contemporaries without ours. Or read the verdict from Judge Marina Syrova on Friday. She quoted a court psychiatrist who had concluded that Tolokonnikova is suffering from a ‘mixed personality disorder’ with symptoms such as ‘stutterness and a tendency to categorically insist on his own opinion as well as a tendency towards oppositional behavioral forms’. Does that sound embarrassing in English? That's because it's not just from another world, it's from another era. Fifteen minutes after quoting the psychiatrist, the judge announced the women's sentences. The members of Pussy Riot, who sat behind a plexiglass wall, laughed. Outside the courthouse, where a protest had been going on for hours, some people cried. Editor's note: Rachel Denber is Deputy Head of the Department of Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. Moscow (CNN) -- There is no basic human right to barge into a church to make a political statement, jump around near the altar and cry obscenities. But there is certainly the right not to lose one's freedom to do so, even if the act is offensive. But that's exactly what happened on Friday. A Moscow court sentenced the three members of feminist punk band Pussy Riot to two years in prison. In my two decades of monitoring human rights in Russia, I've never seen anything like the Pussy Riot case -- the attention of the media, the outpouring of public support, the celebrity statements for the imprisoned and criminally charged punk band members. The image of three young women facing a relentless system of unfair justice and an oppressive state has crystallized too many in the West what is wrong with human rights in Russia. That is deeply worrying indeed. For me, the pictures of Stanislav Markelov, a human rights lawyer, lying on the sidewalk with his back of his head called in 2009, or the body of tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009 after he blew the whistle on a massive government blackmail program. The case of Pussy Riot lights up a much needed, albeit very disturbing, spotlight on the issue of freedom of expression in Post-Soviet Russia On February 21, four members of the group performed what they call a "punk prayer" in Moscow's Russian Orthodox Christ Saviour's Cathedral. They danced around and shouted a few words to their song, "Virgin Mary, Get Putin Out". The stunt lasted less than a minute before the women were forcibly displaced. On the same day, a video generally shared on social media showed a montage of the stunt with the song divided. The song criticizes the alleged close relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Kremlin and President Vladimir V. Putin's personally close relationship with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three of the band members were tried on criminal "hooliganism" charges. Their trial was a theatre for the absurd. In their concluding statements, the women and their lawyers made devastating criticisms of the state of justice and civil liberties in Russia. During the Soviet era, the human rights landscape in Russia was strong. Since then, however, the situation has been more difficult to find out, often making it easier for outsiders to simply give the government a pass. But the devil is in the details. It has been incredibly difficult to put an end to the involvement of officials in the abuse and murder of investigative journalists and human rights activists. And while the government does not silence civil society groups outright, it tries to marginalise, discredit and humiliate them and crush them with heavy-handed bureaucracy, false accusations, threats and the like. Whatever offense the three women have committed for their antics in the church, the authorities would not have turned into a criminal offence, which actually punishes them for their speeches. However, it is typical of how authorities try to keep a lid on controversial issues. The Russian think tank SOVA has in recent years documented dozens of cases in which authorities used the threat of extremist charges to silence critics. Nor is it the first time Russian authorities abuse criminal law to stifle critical artistic expressions. In 2010, a Moscow district court found the co-organizers of a controversial art exhibition guilty of the vague accusation of "inciting religious hatred". The art exhibition organizers were fined. By getting the Pussy Riot band members to wait for trial in prison for nearly six months, authorities clarified how they plan to set limits on political criticism. After a winter of unprecedented peaceful opposition protests, a dozen protesters claimed by authorities have been involved in a fight with police during a mass demonstration in May have been arrested and accused of crimes grossly disproportionate to their alleged actions. Police have searched the homes of the opposition leaders. Laws that broke through in Russia's parliament this summer sent out more signals: criminal liability of non-governmental leaders for "serious violations" of new restrictive provisions, much harsher sanctions for violations of the rules of public assembly, and new restrictions on the Internet that could easily shut down large social networking sites. Critics of the Kremlin have been subjected to violent harassment, intimidation, and grotesque public smear campaigns. For years, Russian human rights defenders have been trying to draw attention to the lack of independence of the courts. With the unprecedented attention to the Pussy Riot trial, there is a surreal legal situation when political interests are at stake for everyone. What we should really wonder is not why Pussy Riot is so distinctive, but if it's just the tip of the iceberg. All too often foreign governments have resorted to wishful thinking about the direction Russia is heading towards. Talking about human rights at a high level -- where everything in Russia is decided -- is unpleasant business. It may be difficult, but Russia does not respect other governments if they shy away. If three women in the jail of the defendants had the courage to speak out where Russia is going, then surely members of the international community should do so as well. At least they won't be thrown into prison. Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion The opinions expressed in this comment are only Rachel Denbers. A summary of this is?
– Det 2-åriga fängelsestraffet som det ryska punkbandet Pussy Riot fick i går har gett upphov till arga kommentarer från västerländska observatörer. Bland reaktionerna: Röster i det styrande partiet United Russia uppmanade till återhållsamhet i domen, vilket betyder "Ryssland kommer inte att bli en totalitär regim igen", konstaterar Uwe Klussmen på Der Spiegel. Men "genom att förvandla i princip ofarliga konstnärer till brottslingar har regimen förvandlat rättegången mot Pussy Riot till en politisk tidsinställd bomb." Han citerar en Moskvajournalist som förutspår att "det kommer att leda till revolution och till krig och blod." Vid Daily Beast ser Masha Gessen en likhet med häxrättegångarna i Salem. Den dömande domaren sade att en medlem av Pussy Riot har en "blandad personlighetsstörning" som innefattar "stybbighet och en tendens att kategoriskt insistera på sin egen åsikt samt en tendens till oppositionella beteendeformer." Skriver Gessen: "Ljud tafatt på engelska? Det beror på att det inte bara är från en annan värld utan från en annan era. Sovjettidens "starka" människorättsdrama har förvandlats till en situation som är "hårdare att räkna ut, vilket ofta gör det lättare för utomstående att helt enkelt ge regeringen en passning", skriver Rachel Denber på CNN. Men under Vladimir Putin har kritiker tystats eller mördats; nu har Pussy Riot visat oss hur Ryssland fungerar. "Det vi egentligen borde undra är inte varför Pussy Riot är så utmärkande, utan om det bara är toppen av isberget."
– The 2-year prison sentence given to Russian punk band Pussy Riot yesterday has given rise to angry comments from Western observers. Among the reactions: Votes in the ruling party United Russia called for restraint in the verdict, meaning "Russia will not become a totalitarian regime again," states Uwe Klussmen of Der Spiegel. But "by turning virtually harmless artists into criminals, the regime has turned the trial of Pussy Riot into a political time bomb." He quotes a Moscow journalist predicting that "it will lead to revolution and to war and blood." At the Daily Beast, Masha Gessen sees a resemblance to the Salem witch trials. The sentencing judge said that a member of Pussy Riot has a "mixed personality disorder" that includes "stiffness and a tendency to categorically insist on his own opinion as well as a tendency towards oppositional forms of behavior." Does Gessen write: "Sound awkwardly in English? That's because it's not just from another world, it's from another era. The "strong" human rights drama of Soviet times has turned into a situation that is "harder to figure out, which often makes it easier for outsiders to simply give the government a pass," writes Rachel Denber of CNN. But under Vladimir Putin, critics have been silenced or murdered; now Pussy Riot has shown us how Russia works. "What we should really wonder is not why Pussy Riot is so distinctive, but if it's just the tip of the iceberg."