Now Pussy Riot are free, Russia's culture wars must end

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/23/pussy-riot-free-russia-war-on-culture

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As the result of a general amnesty, Pussy Riot rockers Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina have been set free. In case you're just joining us from outer space, these women had been serving a two-year sentence for hooliganism and incitement to religious hatred after performing an anti-Putin song at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in downtown Moscow.

Although they were originally due for release in March, just a few months from now, it's good that Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina came out early, for both obvious and not-so-obvious reasons.

First of all, it's simply gratifying to see these women, who both have young children, set free. Whether or not you agree with Vladimir Putin's assessment that their performances were "degrading" to women (based on old polls Russians pretty much seem to agree with him), it's important to note that the sentence against them was extremely harsh and unfair.

Of course, the fact that the Pussy Riot members actually carried out their performance in a place of worship was the deciding factor in their fate. Even some Russian opposition figures, including veteran rocker Yuri Shevchyuk, were surprised and hurt following the cathedral stunt. The vicious persecution of clergy and the destruction of churches in the Soviet Union is not an issue most Russians take lightly – which is part of the reason why the original outcry against the group gained such momentum in Russia.

Yet the ugly show trial that followed, somehow managed to be more offensive than the original performance. Various prominent members of the clergy went on record to say that they did not support Pussy Riot's persecution. Even many of Pussy Riot's most serious detractors did not understand why the state needed to make martyrs out of them. The very wording of the verdict against Pussy Riot continues to be a subject of scorn for lawyers.

The Pussy Riot case eventually became a bitter punchline. Every time some unsympathetic bureaucrat or drunk driver was perceived to have got off easily in the courts, people would joke that, "Hey, at least there was no dancing in a church involved!" In that sense, the drama surrounding Pussy Riot served to further undermine a legal system plagued by allegations of inhumanity and abuse.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's letter from a Mordovian penal colony – a letter that accused the authorities of torture and exploitation of prisoners – was yet another blow against the legal system. In Izvestia, a conservative newspaper, Maxim Kononenko published a powerful essay about the feelings of shame he felt at seeing this young woman wage a lonely crusade against abuse of prisoners (Tolokonnikova was eventually transferred to a Siberian penal colony.)

The case against Pussy Riot also allowed a new group of radical Orthodox activists to rise to prominence. Galvanised by media attention, the radicals went from attacking people wearing Pussy Riot T-shirts to harassing staff at a downtown sex museum, calling for the "pagan" Olympic torch relay to be cancelled, and barging in on a satirical production at Moscow's venerated Chekhov Art theatre – among their many other "achievements".

The new culture war sparked by the original Pussy Riot performance is both tiresome and disturbing. Now that all Pussy Riot members have been freed – and now that prominent church officials are mentioning the possibility of dialogue with them – perhaps passions will die down.

As an Orthodox Christian, I don't want some glassy-eyed guy screaming at me to "repent" when I go to the theatre. I don't want to be lectured about the "forces of darkness" that will surely consume Russia for holding an Olympic torch relay. At the end of the day, I want there to be at least a measure of healing – for everyone involved. An amnesty is the perfect excuse to move on.

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