What P*ssy Riot did was wrong.
- Freedom of worship is a (universally recognised) fundamental human right. P-Riot disrupted that right for other people. The international community condemns nations which mess with peoples fundamental rights, so no-one should praise it or portray it as harmless in miniature.
- They also caused alarm (to those who were present) which is the defintion (in the UK) of a “breach of the peace” (most countries have similar laws).
So there is very much a case for them to answer.
It is frankly infantile to suggest that any punishment for these crimes mean the Orthodox Church and Russian State are unhealithy close.
At the end of the day, neither Patriarch Krill or President Putin were the victims.
The victims were the ordinary people who had their prayers disrupted and were offended by this behaviour in a sacred place. (and those who were disgusted by reading about it in the news).
What if there had been a body lying in state, or a funeral in progress when they descended on the Church? Would they have had the decency / nous to change their plan? I am not so sure.
Ironically, the band’s problem is putin, not the orthodox church. Their choice of location was entirely erroneous - it was an easy, unrelated target, which they knew would garner cheap publicity, this was not a brave or bold act.
The only people who defend this are people who have no respect for anything, and do not value the feelings of others.
The only news outlet giving it much coverage in the UK is the Guardian, which is viciously anti-clerical and childishly champions every such vaucous act of puerile attention seeking. Essentially, its a newspaper (more a comic) for hateful, mixed-up people from the fringes of society. No-one else is interested.
P-Riot should get a fair trial and an appropriate punishment for their crimes.
Someone suggested elsewhere that each doing several hundred hours of cleaning work in Orthodox Churches might be sufficient. (with the results posted on you-tube of course).
The incident reminds me of when gay HIV+ group ACT-UP disrupted a Catholic mass at St Patricks Cathedral in New York. They threw used-condoms about and the eucharist on the floor. It was a PR disaster and only earned them the abject revulsion of any decent person.
