A regional court in Moscow has started to review the first civil lawsuit filed against the members of Pussy Riot, prepared by a law firm in Novosibirsk.
The lawsuit was filed in the name of Irina Ruzankina, a resident of Novosibirsk, the central Russian city. Ruzankina saw a news program about Pussy Riot's impromptu punk prayer in February on television, and says she suffered 'moral harm,' as a result.
Ruzankina values the moral harm she suffered at a little under $1,000. The law firm presenting the case has not hidden the fact that the firm, not the complainant, initiated the suit. They say they are planning to file 12 lawsuits - “the same number as the number of Christ's apostles.” The lawyers say they have already found two more people who were 'harmed' by the group's punk prayer in the cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
The punk prayer in question was the performance of a song, titled “Mother of God, Throw Putin Out,” that lasted around one minute. Three of the Pussy Riot members were sentenced to two years in prison for the action in a trial that garnered global attention and deepened concerns about threats to free speech and human rights in Russia.
The law firm held a press conference to announce their lawsuit during a banquet in an upscale Moscow restaurant. According to the lawyers, the event was paid for by a “sponsor” who cares about the Pussy Riot situation.
Most of the press conference was spent remarking on why so many people were interested in the Pussy Riot case. Those who created a huge international scandal about Pussy Riot, the lawyers declared, “wanted to decrease Russia's attractiveness for foreign investments.”
"DREAMED UP BY AN IDIOT"
The Pussy Riot lawyers, however, are convinced that the lawsuits have no legal basis whatsoever. “This is absolutely chicanery,” said Violetta Volkova, one of the girls' lawyers. “Filing 12 lawsuits because that is how many apostles there were? It's clear to everyone that that is a reason dreamed up by an idiot.”
“This lawsuit has no future,” added Nikolai Polozov, another band member's lawyers. “The court has already established that the three girls did not have any relationship to the production of the video. They did not film it, they didn't edit it, they didn't put it on the Internet, and they most certainly did not transmit it to people's televisions.”
Polozov also stressed that the people who witnessed the punk prayer in person, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, all refused financial compensation for moral harm. “These new sufferers have not clearly defined what exactly was the moral harm they suffered from watching the music video and what kind of consequences it had for their health,” he continued.
The lawyers from Novosibirsk, though, are also defendants in a civil suit. Artem Loskutov, a local artist filed a suit against them. “The filing of a lawsuit against these girls, who are already in a very difficult situation, is a rude violation of generally accepted norms for ethical and moral behavior,” the declaration reads. “It is an immoral act, an attempt to profit from other people's suffering.”
Loskutov says he plans to include testimony from representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church when his lawsuit is heard in court. “These lawyers are comparing their clients to the apostles, which is offensive for any religious person,” he explained. Loskutov says it would be impossible to compensate his mental suffering, so his suit asks for damages of one cent per lawyer in the law firm.
