There is nothing to add here.
If the whole world lets Nadezhda Tolokonikova speak, then we will too.
Because in principle it is always wiser to remain silent, but this time the statement must not be missing.
For a simple reason, because it will be that she told all the so far "silent" truths of the world and apparently in her own defense.
Defense, no worse than Socrates's, and many would compare it, if she herself somewhere in the witness speech did not know the great philosopher, then Dostoevsky, but also the others unjustly condemned by the (un)time in which they lived.
Nadezhda Tolokonikova's closing speech at the Pussy Riot trial<<
At his trial in 399 BC, Socrates gave a speech worthy of eternal existence, and Nadezhda also did something that can live on in all times.
She kissed Russia with "too strong words"
"Is the authoritarian political system to blame? We were looking for authentic genius and simplicity and we found them in our punk performances. Passion, openness and naivety are superior to hypocrisy, insidiousness and artificial decorum that hides crimes," she said at the beginning of the speech. Tolokonnikova.
Believers defend Pusi Riot
Then she called out the state leaders, who are standing with holy expressions on their faces in the church, but their sins are far greater than hers.
Nadezhda explained that their political punk concerts were held primarily because the Russian state system is dominated by rigidity, closedness and caste.
"We are absolutely unfortunate and were forced into political life, due to the use of coercive, bullying measures to manage social processes, which are the circumstances in which the most important political institutions are the disciplinary state structures - security agencies, the army, the police, special forces and supporting means for ensuring political stability: prisons, preventive detention and mechanisms for tight control of public behavior."
The members of the band are actually the most angry because of the civil passivity of the majority of the population or the complete dominance of the executive structures over the legislature and the judiciary, as well as because of the low level of fear-based political culture, which is constantly and deliberately maintained by the state system and its helpers.
"Nevertheless, we are grateful to all those who, since they are free themselves, publicly supported us. We have seen booklets distributed by the Orthodox in which there are prayers for those who are in prison... More and more believers are starting to defend Pusi Riot. They don't think what we did deserves another five months in custody, much less the three years in prison that the prosecutor would like. In the end, truth always triumphs over corruption, deceit, and lies. And with each passing day, truth is everything more and more triumphant even if we're still behind bars and we'll probably be here a lot longer."
Obstinacy and the search for the truth are always opposed to each other, in this case, at this trial, says Nadezhda, they can see people who are trying to find the truth and people who are trying to enslave those who want to reach the truth.
It makes you want to cry when you see the methods of the medieval inquisition being carried out by the police and judicial system of the Russian Federation, which is our country
Humans are creatures that always make mistakes
People in general, the singer explains in her speech, are not perfect. They aspire to wisdom, but never actually possess it.
"It is precisely this that led us to go to the temple of Christ the Savior, and I think that Christianity, as I understand it based on the study of the old and new testaments, supports the search for truth and the constant overcoming of oneself, overcoming what you once were. Christ did not hung out with prostitutes for no reason.
He said, "I help those who have gone astray and forgive them," but for some reason I can't see that in our court process, which is held under the banner of Christianity."
Victims of abuse
Pankerka also called out the lawyers and prosecutors who were directed against them, as well as the entire justice system.
"We were exposed to abuse during this trial. Who would have thought that one person and the state system he controls would be able to repeatedly commit completely gratuitous evil? Who would have thought that history and Stalin's Great Terror, in particular, which happened not so long ago, she won't be taught at all? From the moment of our arrest, however, we can no longer shed tears. We have forgotten how to cry. At our punk concerts we shouted as loud as we could about the great wrongs of the government and now we left without their voice."
The head of the KGB, their chief saint, will lead the protesters to prison
Pankerka confirmed on behalf of her colleagues that they do not feel guilty, nor that they regret what they did, because they were actually just honest in what they said, saying exactly what they thought, out of childlike naivety.
"We are in a desperate situation but we do not despair. We are persecuted but not forgotten. It is easy to humiliate and break people who are open, but when I am weak, then I am strong... Kaća, Maša and I are in prison but I I don't think we are defeated. Just like the dissidents were not defeated either. So the dissidents were not losers. Disappeared in psychiatric hospitals and prisons, they judged the regime."
After all that was said, Tolokonikova quoted a song by Pusi Riot because, as she claims, all of their songs proved to be prophetic, including the one that says: "The head of the KGB, their chief saint, will lead the protesters to prison."
Nadezhde Tolokonikova concluded her speech with the following verse:
"Open the door, take off your epaulettes, feel the smell of freedom with us."
The Russian Orthodox Church forgave punk women
The church recognizes itself as the heart of Russian national identity, while its critics argue that the power it wields makes it a quasi-state entity.
"Sometimes there were accusations that the church did not forgive them," said Shevkunov. "We forgave them, at the very beginning. But society and the government should prevent such actions".
Archpriest Maksim Kozlov agreed with him, who expressed the hope that young women and their supporters will change on state television. "We just pray and hope that those young women and all those people who are shouting in front of the courthouse, who are committing sacrilege not only in Russia but in other countries, will understand that their actions are terrible," he said.
"And despite that, the church seeks mercy within the limits of the law". Both priests supported the court's decision to prosecute the members of the band Pusi Rajot, despite condemnations from around the world that their case was unfair.
Governments including the US, Britain, France and Germany condemned their sentences as disproportionate.
The Pusi Rajot case highlighted the influence that the Russian Orthodox Church has on society. Although church and state are officially separate, the church recognizes itself as the heart of Russian national identity, while its critics argue that the power it wields makes it a quasi-state entity. Some Orthodox communities and numerous believers advocated for severe punishment for actions they consider sacrilegious.
Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church did not hide his great support for Putin, whose rule he praised as a "miracle of God." He assessed the performance of punk girls as an attack on the church, which he blamed on "enemy forces".
After yesterday's verdict, the church issued a statement in which it called the band's performance "blasphemous" and "a reflection of gross hostility towards millions of people and their feelings". The church also called on the authorities to "show mercy towards the accused in the hope that they will refrain from sacrilege in the future".
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