Pussy Riot release anti-Putin video

2012-09-07 1

NO REPORTER NARRATION

Russian opposition punk band Pussy Riot released a fresh video clip in which a portrait of President Vladimir Putin is burned down in the latest provocative performance of the group that has already seen three of its members jailed.

The members of the band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were last month convicted for two years in prison each for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after storming Moscow main cathedral's altar in winter to stage a "punk prayer" calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.

The new video shows three colourfully-dressed women, their faces hidden behind brightly-coloured balaclavas that have become the band's trademark, sliding down a wall covered by a large-scale white banner depicting a women in a red miniskirt and holding a guitar, her fist folded and pointing to the sky.

The women light up fluorescent green flares as they thank Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and other international music scene celebrities, feminists and anti-Kremlin opposition activist for supporting their case.