Dossier Regarding a Recent Russian Contemporary Affair - Essay Example

? Dossier regarding a recent Russian contemporary affair Collection of three media articles The three media articles considered for the dossier are “Anti-Putin Stunt Earns Punk Band Two Years in Jail” published in August 2012 on NY Times by David Herszenhorn, “Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism” on BBC published in August 2012 and the “History Repeated Itself as Farce in 2012” from Moscow times published in 7th January 2013 by journalist Roland Oliphant. 2. Summary of the media reports collected In the article “Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism” published in BBC, exhibited strong support in their liberal views and freedom of expression. The report criticizes the sentencing of two years prison sentence of the three female band members of “Pussy Riot” accused of being rigidly hurting the sentiments of orthodox believers through their act and also showed a vehement protest against the selected President of Russia. The paper focused on the notion that sentencing was executed with a personal grudge from the president Putin himself and also revealed the picture of pro-“Pussy Riot” case. But it also reflected a bit of criticism of the case in an indirect manner supporting the convicted by stating that they have performed an act of hooliganism which further reflects the strictness of the Russian government in this case (Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism, 2012). In the article “Anti-Putin Stunt Earns Punk Band Two Years in Jail” published in August 2012 on NY Times also criticized sentencing of the Pussy Riot Case and highlighted on the global reactions in favor of the case. Giving the instance of the performance of the band members and their subsequent conviction the report stated that it was a kind of forced sentencing on the alleged persons. The report also highlighted that the members of the band had no intentions of hurting the Orthodox sentiments but their performance was a symbol of protest against the third time election of Putin as the President through manipulation and loosening the attributes of democracy (Herszenhorn, 2012). The convicted were also not given proper flexibilities in defending themselves. In the article “History Repeated Itself as Farce in 2012” from Moscow times published in 7th January 2013 by journalist Roland Oliphant also reflects its sympathy for the members of Pussy and blames the Russian President as a move to curb down the opposition and also making its authority over the opposition and establishing anti democratic aura but the report also directs that western media have exaggerated the issue and the event can occur in the west as well (Oliphant, 2013). 3. Vladimir Putin and controversy Vladimir Putin in Russia after serving a term from 1999 to 2008 in Russia as the Prime Minister and President was also re elected as the President of Russia in 2012 (White, 2011, p.175). Although Russia follows a pure democratic regime but the presidential election was not a favorable outcome for a large fraction of people in Russia. Huge constraints have come from the opposition political parties in Russia like that of People’s Freedom Party and Republic Party of Russia with the notion that Putin has manipulated the votes in his favor and have jeopardized the crux of democracy. On the eve of the Presidential election, there were military troops in the streets and there were more than hundred of arrests. One of the opposition leaders stated that, “If it was a free election, why have they flooded the entire city of troops? They fear us” (Stewart and Palmer, 2012). On the eve of Presidential election and his victory, Putin was found shading tears. The protestors criticized this action of the president by stating that this tear was seen for the first time in Putin’s eyes after gaining victory in the elections by a share of 64 per cent votes. Anti Putin campaigner Ilya yashin stated that, ‘It is the first time within the last 12 years we saw the tears of the dictator’. Stating this he also further added that his tears were not seen or there were no positive steps taken in times of Kurk submarine and violent explosions in the Moscow metro. The opposition stated these tears as tears of fear and losing the position. The mass agitation was also manifold in Russia against Putin (Stewart and Palmer, 2012). 4. The Pussy Riot Case In such a situation, three members of Russian female punk rock band Pussy Riot were tried and were sentenced to two years of Jail. They were convicted because they were found guilty of hooliganism regarding the performance of a song criticizing President Vladimir Putin in a church. They were charged after screaming in loud music the words “Mother Mary, please drive Putin away”. This was done in a dissent act in February within the Christ Savior Cathedral which is one of the Moscow’s houses of worship. Judge Sirovaya who was in the charge of the case rejected the defense of the women and ruled that they had intentions in insulting the Russian Orthodox Church as well as undermine the public order. The jury stated that the female singers of the band offended the churchgoers through their manifestation of illicit actions, obscene language as well as their clothing and they also exhibited a lack of respect against the rules of the Orthodox Church. The band members also did not stop after requesting to terminate their performance (Spark, 2012). 5. Freedom of speech, protests-Western and the Russian media Although the case ended up through the sentencing of band members but there were wide spread of protest against the sentence around the world and violations of freedom of speech in association with the case. There were wide spread violation from all over the world regarding the case and there were vigorous rallies held in dozens of cities in Russia which included Paris, New York and London and there were also demonstrators appeared outside the Russian Embassy who wore balaclavas which was the trademark gear of the Pussy Riot band. From the Western media, government and human rights groups especially from the United States directed imparted direct criticism of verdict and they stated that the verdict was obnoxiously harsh. The women acted as a group but they faced a maximum sentence of seven years in the prison (Herszenhorn, 2012).The European Union (EU) foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and the foreign office of UK criticized the severity of the sentences and spokesperson of the US state department stated that, “We urge Russian authorities to review this case and ensure that the right to freedom of expression is upheld” (Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism, 2012). President Vladimir Putin and many Russian media pointed out that it was the hypocrisy of Western media coverage which stated that the women had overtaken a red line. Putin stated that the pro democracy protestors were in the purview of violating common people’s moral and he also stated that after the era of Stalin, it was the duty of Russian state in protecting the sanctity of the church. Putin referred to the performance executed by one of the band members who was jailed before the Pussy Riot performance. The Russian President stated that, “Maybe someone likes to have group sex in a museum. It's an insult to women when a pregnant woman has group sex. Does anybody like it?” The band member Tolokonnikova participated in the group orgy for the purpose of protesting the Russian leadership in the year 2008 as a part of the guerilla art group which was named as Viona (Hearst & Elder, 2012). The Russian media stated that act by the Pussy Riot was viewed as blasphemy not only by the church but by media also. Around 5% of the Russian thought that women will not be punished and but there optimistic support from around 65% of the population (Russia: Media coverage of Pussy Riot is counter-productive, 2012). 6. Evaluation Although the case can be seen as a clash between the Western world and Russia’s media but the case can be analyzed from an unbiased point of view. In a legal framework and in the assessment of quality of the law the defendants can be found of not committing guilt. The Russian law against the Freedom of expression states that, “gross violation of the public order manifested in patent contempt for society.” The actions of the defendants did not used any weapons and in charge of the religious hatred they stated that they do not bear the intention of abusing any religion but it was just a political protest in the artistic form. They just focused on the inappropriate relationship between the government of Russia and the church. Under the purview of international they do possess the right in publicly criticizing the government without any interference and punishment (Russia’s Violation the Right the Freedom of Expression: The Case of the Punk Rock Band Pussy Riot, 2012, p.14). Again under Putin the business has not been able to attain specific goals. Russia is also not the top partner with any of its major economic partners like that of Germany, China. This has resulted in the weakening of the political forefront. The country has also not been able to pioneer in lifestyle, culture and arts. The fact has to be admitted that Russia in the current situation is unable to establish a forefront what the Soviet Union did in the endeavor of winning hearts within the country as well as in outside. There is also a declining of the Russian arts and culture and the foreign policy are also degenerating and the Russian people genuinely want a change. The Pussy Riot case is indeed a manifestation of discrimination by the Russian government (Russia's foreign policy under Vladimir Putin: achievements and failures, 2012). References 1. Herszenhorn, D, (2012). Anti-Putin Stunt Earns Punk Band Two Years in Jail. Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/18/world/europe/suspense-ahead-of-verdict-for-jailed-russian-punk-band.html?pagewanted=all 2. Hearst, D & Elder, M, (2012), Putin brands western media hyprocrites. Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/25/putin-pussy-riot-western-hypocrisy 3. Oliphant, R, (2013). History Repeated Itself as Farce in 2012. Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/history-repeated-itself-as-farce-in-2012/473713.html 4. Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism, (2012). Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19297373 5. Russia: Media coverage of Pussy Riot is counter-productive, (2012). Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from:http://www.speakerschair.com/russia-media-coverage-of-pussy-riot-is-counter-productive/ 6. Russia’s Violation the Right the Freedom of Expression: The Case of the Punk Rock Band Pussy Riot, (2012). Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://humanrightsfoundation.org/reports/Pussy-Riot-Case-Report-08-16-2012.pdf 7. Russia's foreign policy under Vladimir Putin: achievements and failures, (2012). Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from:http://www.eurorus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3923&Itemid=66&lang=ru 8. Stewart, W and Palmer, M, (2012). ‘The result was never really in doubt': Observers say Putin's win was a sure bet... as tens of thousands flood into Moscow for mass protests. Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110320/Russian-elections-2012-Vladimir-Putin-power-Moscow-braces-mass-protests.html 9. Spark, L, S, (2012). Russian court imprisons Pussy Riot band members on hooliganism charges. Retrieved on January 7, 2012 from: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/17/world/europe/russia-pussy-riot-trial/index.html 10. White, J, R, (2011), Terrorism and Homeland Security, Cengage Learning Read More