SELIGER, Russia. July 31 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin was told during a meeting with a youth audience that the three jailed Pussy Riot punk rock band members would have been unlikely to have such rough treatment from Russia's criminal justice had their scandalous performance inside a cathedral in Moscow not been an anti-Putin protest.


file photo


file photo


"I believe that this case is too politicized. It seems to me that, if those girls hadn't pronounced your name in church, they wouldn't have got such long detention and possibly they wouldn't be threatened with such long (prison) terms as (they may be facing)," Dmitry Ternovsky, leader of a discussion group said during the Seliger 2012 youth forum.

There were both applause and pejorative outcries from the audience.

The Pussy Riot performers are on trial at a Moscow court on charges of "hooliganism" for their performance inside the Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They have been in custody since March.

Ternovsky cited the Pussy Riot affair to illustrate his point that Russia has "no independent judiciary" and that the latter "is very politicized."

Citing opposition protests over the past few months, Ternovsky said: "We have been able to see problems getting exposed, people being detained illegally, (police) reports being forged, and so forth. The same goes for the judiciary. I believe that we have no independent judiciary, it is very politicized, especially if we think of all those incidents with the detention of people, - we can all see how it's happening."

Ternovsky also asked Putin what he thought of public concerns over the "non-replacement of authority."

Ternovsky complained that both the government and the opposition were poorly represented at Seliger 2012.

"Many members of the opposition have refused to come here, and I believe that this was a huge mistake because it has become possible to arrange a floor here where very much can be achieved," he said.

He complained that government figures are not too eager to take part in forums such as Seliger either.

Keywords: Russia, Protests, Politics - Russia, Law - Russian News - Russia - Johnson's Russia List

SELIGER, Russia. July 31 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin was told during a meeting with a youth audience that the three jailed Pussy Riot punk rock band members would have been unlikely to have such rough treatment from Russia's criminal justice had their scandalous performance inside a cathedral in Moscow not been an anti-Putin protest.

file photo


file photo


"I believe that this case is too politicized. It seems to me that, if those girls hadn't pronounced your name in church, they wouldn't have got such long detention and possibly they wouldn't be threatened with such long (prison) terms as (they may be facing)," Dmitry Ternovsky, leader of a discussion group said during the Seliger 2012 youth forum.

There were both applause and pejorative outcries from the audience.

The Pussy Riot performers are on trial at a Moscow court on charges of "hooliganism" for their performance inside the Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They have been in custody since March.

Ternovsky cited the Pussy Riot affair to illustrate his point that Russia has "no independent judiciary" and that the latter "is very politicized."

Citing opposition protests over the past few months, Ternovsky said: "We have been able to see problems getting exposed, people being detained illegally, (police) reports being forged, and so forth. The same goes for the judiciary. I believe that we have no independent judiciary, it is very politicized, especially if we think of all those incidents with the detention of people, - we can all see how it's happening."

Ternovsky also asked Putin what he thought of public concerns over the "non-replacement of authority."

Ternovsky complained that both the government and the opposition were poorly represented at Seliger 2012.

"Many members of the opposition have refused to come here, and I believe that this was a huge mistake because it has become possible to arrange a floor here where very much can be achieved," he said.

He complained that government figures are not too eager to take part in forums such as Seliger either.