By: Daniel McElroy

Pussy Riot Free Oleg Sentsov

Maria (Masha) Alyokhina and Olga Borisova, members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, protesting in Yakutsk. Photograph: AP

The Voice Project has received word from Pussy Riot that two of its members, Maria (Masha) Alekhina and Olga Borisova, are safe after being detained for five hours on Monday in Yakutsk, Russia.

Masha and Olga were protesting the imprisonment of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov near the Siberian prison where he is held when they were arrested by police and taken to the station on Monday. They then faced a court hearing on grounds that their demonstration, which consisted of a “FREE SENTSOV” banner on a bridge and plumes of blue and red smoke, was unauthorized.

The pair was quickly released when a judge found flaws in their case files.

Sentsov has been imprisoned since May 2014, after he vehemently protested the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. A well-known filmmaker in his own country, Sentsov put his career on hold to protest Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, he was sentenced by a Russian military court to 20 years in prison.

Pussy Riot’s support of Sentsov is longstanding: Masha participated in a 2016 theatre production by Belarus Free Theatre, Burning Doors, that highlighted the stories of persecuted artists in Russia (including Sentsov), and the group has been outspoken about his detention since it began.

The Voice Project has been working since Sentsov’s imprisonment to draw international attention to his case, most notably through our November 2016 Imprisoned for Art campaign. This effort featured participation by Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova as well as Johnny Depp, who was pictured in a mug shot with Sentsov’s arrest and sentencing information. The campaign drew international press and an oblique comment from Vladimir Putin who had made clear his desire to tighten control on artistic expression to avoid what he called “terrorist activity”. The response from Voice Project Executive Director Hunter Heaney was published as an open letter to Mr. Putin (see it here).

Johnny Depp and Nadya Tolokonnikova advocate for the release of Oleg Sentsov and Nudem Durak as part of The Voice Project’s Imprisoned for Art Campaign.


We have maintained close contact with Pussy Riot since coordinating their legal defense fund and international support for them during their high profile imprisonment in 2012 and 2013, and we continue to work with them on freeing other prisoners of conscience in Russia and around the globe. Please join Pussy Riot and The Voice Project to use your voice in continuing to support Sentsov today.

Array
Jason Young

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