Volker Beck Frank Heinrich Christoph Strässer Marina Schuster Member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Bundestag First Parliamentary Secretary Member of the Committee and spokesman on human rights on Human Rights and Spokeswoman on human rights for the Alliance 90/The Greens Humanitarian Aid Spokesman on human rights and humanitarian aid parliamentary group CDU/CSU parliamentary group for the SPD parliamentary group for the FDP parliamentary group in in the Bundestag in the Bundestag in the Bundestag the Bundestag
7 August 2012 Vladimir M. Grinin Ambassador of the Russian Federation Embassy of the Russian Federation Unter den Linden 63-65 10117 Berlin
Excellency,
We, the undersigned Members from all of the parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag, are concerned about the circumstances of the criminal proceedings against three members of the band “Pussy Riot”.
Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich have been held in provisional custody for around five months. They are accused of having performed a “punk prayer” in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on 21 February 2012. This is said to have constituted an offence of “organised hooliganism”, which carries a penalty of up to seven years’ imprisonment. On 20 July 2012, the Khamovniki Court in Moscow extended their provisional custody until 12 January 2013. The three artists facing charges have since apologised to Orthodox Christians for their sensational “punk prayer”, saying that it was not their intention to offend anyone’s religious beliefs.
The months of provisional custody and the harsh sentence which may be imposed are, in our view, draconian and disproportionate. Especially in view of the fact that artistic acts like the three defendants’ “punk prayer” are protected by the freedom of the arts and the right to freedom of expression in accordance with Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). The constitution of the Russian Federation protects the freedom of the arts in Article 44 (1): “Everyone shall be guaranteed the freedom of literary, artistic, scientific, technical and other types of creative activity, and teaching.” In a secular and pluralist state, peaceful artistic activities – even if they may be seen as a provocation – should not lead to accusations of a serious crime and long prison sentences.
Respectfully yours,
Volker Beck Frank Heinrich Christoph Strässer Marina Schuster Supported by the following Members of the Bundestag
Jan van Aken MdB Kerstin Müller MdB Kerstin Andreae MdB Petra Müller MdB Rainer Arnold MdB Beate Müller-Gemmeke MdB Bärbel Bas MdB Dietmar Nietan MdB Marieluise Beck MdB Manfred Nink MdB Florian Bernschneider MdB Konstantin von Notz MdB Lothar Binding MdB Friedrich Ostendorff MdB Matthias W. Birkwald MdB Aydan Özoğuz MdB Gerd Bollmann MdB Rita Pawelski MdB Martin Burkert MdB Richard Pitterle MdB Viola von Cramon MdB Yvonne Ploetz MdB Petra Crone MdB Jörg von Polheim MdB Heidrun Dittrich MdB Brigitte Pothmer MdB Bijan Djir-Sarai MdB Mechthild Rawert MdB Harald Ebner MdB Ingrid Remmers MdB Siegmund Ehrmann MdB René Röspel MdB Hans-Josef Fell MdB Tabea Rößner MdB Thomas Gambke MdB Michael Roth MdB Kai Gehring MdB Manuel Sarrazin MdB Katrin Göring-Eckardt MdB Paul Schäfer MdB Hans-Michael Goldmann MdB Elisabeth Scharfenberg MdB Angelika Graf MdB Marianne Schieder MdB Kerstin Griese MdB Christian Schmidt MdB Michael Groß MdB Frithjof Schmidt MdB Annette Groth MdB Ulla Schmidt MdB Wolfgang Gunkel MdB Ulrich Schneider MdB Wolfgang Hellmich MdB Patrick Schnieder MdB Gabriele Hiller-Ohm MdB Ottmar Schreiner MdB Bärbel Höhn MdB Jimmy Schulz MdB Barbara Höll MdB Swen Schulz MdB Ingrid Hönlinger MdB Stefan Schwartze MdB Birgit Homburger MdB Kathrin Senger-Schäfer MdB Dieter Jasper MdB Ilja Seifert MdB Lukrezia Jochimsen MdB Raju Sharma MdB Egon Jüttner MdB Petra Sitte MdB Michael Kauch MdB Dorothea Steiner MdB Uwe Kekeritz MdB Rainer Stinner MdB Ulrich Kelber MdB Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn MdB Katja Keul MdB Sabine Stüber MdB Roderich Kiesewetter MdB Kirsten Tackmann MdB Memet Kilic MdB Frank Tempel MdB Volkmar Klein MdB Manfred Todtenhausen MdB Maria Klein-Schmeink MdB Markus Tressel MdB Pascal Kober MdB Jürgen Trittin MdB Ute Koczy MdB Axel Troost MdB Tom Koenigs MdB Arnold Vaatz MdB Bärbel Kofler MdB Kathrin Vogler MdB Jutta Krellmann MdB Ute Vogt MdB Agnes Krumwiede MdB Johanna Voß MdB Renate Künast MdB Arfst Wagner MdB Undine Kurth MdB Daniela Wagner MdB Christian Lange MdB Beate Walter-Rosenheimer MdB Caren Lay MdB Katrin Werner MdB Monika Lazar MdB Andrea Wicklein MdB Stefan Liebich MdB Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker MdB Kirsten Lühmann MdB Josef Winkler MdB Oliver Luksic MdB Uta Zapf MdB Nicole Maisch MdB Sabine Zimmermann MdB Michael Meister MdB