Two activists from the protest group Pussy Riot were fined by the Russian courts for participating in an action against homophobia in Moscow in October, their lawyer said on Monday (November 23).
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On October 7, the birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin, several members of Pussy Riot including Veronika Nikoulchina and Maria Aliokhina hung rainbow flags, symbol of the LGBT community, on government buildings including the headquarters of the Supreme Court and that of the Russian Security Service (FSB).
Both were sentenced Monday by Moscow courts to 10,000 and 15,000 rubles (110 and 166 euros at the current rate) respectively for their participation in this action, said their lawyer Sergei Telnov.
"
We will surely appeal against these decisions (...) which constitute a violation of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,
" he added.
The Pussy Riot group last month presented the action on its Facebook page as a "
birthday present
" to Vladimir Putin, calling on the president to overturn Russia's law banning
homosexual
"
propaganda
" against minors, passed in 2013 and often used to prosecute LGBT activists.
According to constitutional amendments, initiated by Putin and approved in a national vote in early July, marriage in Russia is defined as "
the union of a man and a woman
" only.
Maria Aliokhina was arrested in February 2012 with two other members of the Pussy Riot after performing a "
punk prayer
" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow asking the Blessed Virgin to "
drive Putin
" from power, and was released only after 21 months of detention.
For her part, Véronika Nikoulchina was among the protesters arrested and sentenced to a short prison term for having invaded a football field during the World Cup in Russia in July 2018, with the intention of denouncing the abuses committed by the Russian police.
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