Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina are presently in our part of the world, kicking arse and taking names. Over the weekend, they addressed a Sydney audience at the Festival Of Dangerous Ideas, and offered a fairly scathing critique of Australia’s human rights record.
Initially, there were calls for the pair to boycott the festival altogether in protest of Australia’s asylum seeker detention program. The Guardian report that that they decided to appear anyway, hoping that their presence would draw the attention of international media, as their recent appearance at the Sochi Olympics did.
The pair, who themselves served time in Russian prison camps for “undermining the social order” drew comparisons between their country’s treatment of political prisoners and ours of asylum seekers. “We were surprised by the problems here, such as detention camps, which are similar to what is happening in Russia,” Tolokonnikova said.
In their talk, entitled ‘Russia Is A Penal Colony’, they frankly addressed concerns about the situation in their home country. “There’s a prison-like attitude throughout,” Alekhina told the audience. “People don’t feel that they have power, that they can elect their own government or participate in the life of their region or city.”
They spoke at length about Russia’s human rights abuses, lack of a free press, and poor treatment of prisoners, and noted that the hunger strikes they undertook in prison were similar to those undertaken by detainees in Australia’s offshore processing centers. Alekhina said Russia should serve as a warning about what happens if a society “loses its memories or becomes unconscious.”
The pair also called on Australia to bar Russian President Vladimir Putin from the upcoming G20 conference, saying that “such a person has no place” at an international conference. Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that calls to ban Putin have “weighed on his mind”, but the decision to do so must be agreed upon by all G20 member states.
At one point, panel chair Monica Attard asked the pair if they were still members of Pussy Riot, following suggestions they’d left the group. They described it as more of a movement, and noted “anyone can become a member of Pussy Riot, even you can become one.” We’re very much hoping she calls their bluff.
Photo: Andrew H Walker via Getty Images
