Vladimir Putin. Interview to Russia Today TV Channel.
September 6, 2012 Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region
Интервью телеканалу Russia Today
6 сентября 2012 года Московская область, Ново-Огарёво
In the run-up to the APEC Forum, Vladimir Putin was interviewed by Russia Today TV Channel.
KEVIN OWEN: Ok, and now I'd like to talk about the trial and jailing of Pussy Riot, that punk group band. There's been much criticism that the sentence handed down was too strong, too much and that the whole case was too big a deal off and that it actually back fired and has brought more people to their cause with the publicity. With hind sight, always a beautiful thing, but with hindsight do you think the case could have been handled differently?
VLADIMIR PUTIN: You've been working in Russia for a while now and maybe know some Russian. Could you please translate the name of the band into Russian?
KEVIN OWEN: Pussy Riot the punk band, I don't know what you would call them in Russian, Sir, but may be you could tell me!
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Can you translate the first word into Russian? Or maybe it would sound too obscene? Yes, I think you wouldn't do it because it sounds too obscene, even in English.
KEVIN OWEN: I actually thought it was referring to a cat, but I'm getting your point here. Do you think the case was handled wrongly in any way, could some lesson have been learned?
VLADIMIR PUTIN: I know you understand it perfectly well, you don't need to pretend you don't get it. It's just because these people made all of you say their band's name out loud too many times. It's obscene -- but forget it.
Here's what I would like to say. I have always felt that punishment should be proportionate to the offence. I am not in a position now and would not like, anyway, to comment on the decision of a Russian court, but I would rather talk about the moral side of the story.
First, in case you never heard of it, a couple of years ago one of the band's members put up three effigies in one of Moscow's big supermarkets, with a sign saying that Jews, gays and migrant workers should be driven out of Moscow. I think local authorities should have looked into their activities right from that moment. After that, they staged an orgy in a public place. Of course, people are allowed to do whatever they want to do, as long as it's legal, but not in a public place. Again, the authorities should have looked into that. Then they uploaded the video of that orgy on the Internet. You know some fans of group sex say it's better than one-on-one because, like in any teamwork, you don't need to hit the ball all the time.
Again, it's okay if you do what you like privately, but I wouldn't be that certain about uploading your acts on the Internet. It could be the subject of legal assessment, too.
Then they got inside Yelokhovo Cathedral, here in Moscow, and caused mayhem there, and then they went to another cathedral and caused mayhem there, too.
You know, Russians still have painful memories of the early years of Soviet rule, when thousands of Orthodox priests and the clergy of other religions were persecuted. Soviet authorities brutally repressed the clergy. Many churches were destroyed. The attacks had a devastating effect on all our traditional religions. And so in general I think the state has to protect the feelings of believers.
I will not comment on whether the verdict is well-grounded and the sentence proportionate to the offence. These girls have lawyers who must defend their interests in court. They have the right to file an appeal and demand a new hearing. But it's up to them, it's just a legal issue.
KEVIN OWEN: I'd like to talk about the latest developments in the Magnitski case for a moment now, both the US and Britain, Britain most recently are working on this list of Russian officials, Russian citizens that they say are responsible for his death. He was a high ranking finance lawyer who died in a Russian jail, I'll just explain for our viewers. Why is there still such a perception abroad that this wasn't dealt with here in Russia, that the people responsible hadn't been dealt with properly. Why does this keep rumbling on?
www.kremlin.ru