Russian "Punkers" Get 2 Years Jail for US State Department Stunt

America's troupe of "activists" continue attempts to divide and undermine Russian society. 
by Tony Cartalucci

August 17, 2012 - When the US is overtly backing the terrorist invasion of Syria, seeing to the death, displacement, and disruption of millions of lives abroad, while hosting a mass murdering fugitive dictator at home, what then is it to back an act of hooliganism in a Russian church targeting a geopolitical rival?

The US State Department-backed so-called "punk band" going by the name of "Pussy Riot," stormed into a Moscow church, defaming the Russian government while mocking the beliefs of churchgoers with vulgarity and disruptive behavior. Marketed as an act of "freedom of expression" by the Western media and the West's collection of foreign ministries, it was in reality what would be called both a hate-crime and disorderly conduct in the West. Furthermore, in the West, such an act would come with it steep fines and lengthy jail sentences.

In fact, similar cases have played out in the West - minus the feigned indignation over the perceived violation of free speech of alleged bigots, racists, and hooligans that have preceded "Pussy Riot." In many cases, the West has actively pursued not only people harassing others and creating public disturbances, but also those distributing material to like minded people who's beliefs are simply perceived as "socially harmful." 

The West Has Jailed Many For Similar or Lesser Offenses

  • 3 Years in Jail for Revising History: In 2006, the BBC reported, "British historian David Irving has been found guilty in Vienna of denying the Holocaust of European Jewry and sentenced to three years in prison." The BBC also reported, "the judge in his 2000 libel trial declared him "an active Holocaust denier... anti-Semitic and racist."" Irving's beliefs, as unpopular as they may be, were expressed in his writings and speeches, not in the middle of a synagogue he had burst into. 
  • 4 Years and 2 Years in Jail for Operating "Racist" Website: For the crime of operating a US-based "racist" website and possessing with intent to distribute "racist material," two British men, Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle were sentenced to 4 years and 2 years respectively in the UK in 2009. The presiding judge, according to the BBC, "told the men their material was "abusive and insulting" and had the potential to cause "grave social harm."" Unlike Pussy Riot, however, these 2 men only crammed their leaflets into the door of a synagogue - instead of bursting in. Still they received 3-4 years in prison.   
  • 5 Years in Jail for Disagreeing With Mainstream History: Also in 2009, a man was jailed for 5 years for "propagating Nazi ideas and Holocaust denial" in Austria, Reuters reported. Gerd Honsik apparently wrote books and magazines which he attempted to distribute in schools, though it was the content of the material, not the manner in which he tried to distribute it that earned him his lengthy jail sentence. Unpopular though his ideas may be, according to the latest tirade by the West, he not only should've been allowed to proclaim them publicly, but do so in a place of worship amongst those he despised.    
  • 3 Years in Jail for Harassing a Jewish Man and Public Hate Speech: In 2011, an Australian man posted an "anti-Semitic" video on YouTube earning him a 3 year jail sentence. The video apparently showed the convicted man insulting a Jewish man before going on a tirade "in front of the Perth Bell Tower," reported ABC of Australia. Clearly insulting someone in Australia and creating a public disturbance is a punishable crime, yet somehow the Australian government sees insulting churchgoers in Russia as "freedom of expression." Equally as clear, is that hypocrisy and selective principles are being liberally exercised.
  • Detainment for "Hateful" Public Disturbance: This year, the British Daily Mail reported in their article, "Elmo in cuffs: Man dressed as Sesame Street character is carried away in Central Park after anti-Semitic rant in front of kids," that "the appearance of a hate-spewing man dressed up as Elmo was a jarring one for many New Yorkers who visited Central Park on Sunday afternoon." The article elaborated by saying that though the man was put in handcuffs and taken away, he was not arrested. While no arrest or sentence was handed down, the story clearly indicates that there is a line drawn as to what is "freedom of speech" and what is "disturbing the peace" in the United States. 
  • Arrested for Aggravating "religious and racial" Facebook Comments:  For the crime of posting "anti-Semitic" remarks on Facebook, the BBC reported that "five men and a 15-year-old youth" were arrested in May, 2012. The BBC would elaborate by reporting, "the six people arrested were charged with a breach of the peace with religious and racial aggravations."

Politically-Motivated Hypocrisy and Proxy Poseurs

Regardless of what one's beliefs may be on "freedom of expression" and what lines if any exist between responsible and irresponsible use of this freedom, one cannot ignore the astounding hypocrisy exhibited by the West - now wringing their hands in feigned disapproval over the jailing of "Pussy Riot" while their jails are full of "hate speech" perpetrators - many of whom did not even specifically target or disturb the subjects of their perceived scorn.



Images: "Pussy Riot's" support campaign is spearheaded by Oksana Chelysheva of the US State Department-funded "Russian-Chechen Friendship Society," a clearing house for Chechen terrorist propaganda. Along with US State Department-subsidized Alexey Navalny and the West's media outlets on their side, the hooligan anti-establishment "punk rockers" now on trial in Moscow have a decidedly "establishment" backing. Read more here. (click images to enlarge)
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The real reason why the Western media outlets have been so keen on covering the "Pussy Riot" trial has nothing to do with "free speech."

The West, and more specifically, the corporate-financier interests of Wall Street and London, see Russia's current government as a barrier to not only the return to the unmitigated plundering of the Russian people they had enjoyed in the 1990's, but a check and balance inhibiting their hegemonic ambitions globally. The West has propped up with money and political support the opposition movement from which "Pussy Riot" has emanated.

This latest stunt was designed specifically to breath new life into the crumbling, overtly foreign-backed "opposition" that has been attempting to divide and undermine both Russia and the government of President Vladamir Putin, before, during, and after his return to the presidency. Instead, this latest stunt does little more than further expose the increasingly visible hypocrisy and injustice pervading all parts of Western society.

Finally, "Pussy Riot" are not punk rockers. They are US State Department-backed instruments of corporate-financier hegemony, used as leverage against a Russian government standing in the way of Wall Street and London's order of international corporatocracy. The punk culture, ironically represents the antithesis of such an international order - ironic indeed that so many have superficially defended "Pussy Riot" as targeted "punkers" when substantively they are "poseurs."