But this doesn change the fact that freedom of expression
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Canada Goose Parka Editor note: Michelle Ringuette is chief of campaigns and programs buy canada goose jacket at Amnesty International USA. The views expressed are her own.
canadian goose jacket All eyes were on Moscow this canada goose clearance sale morning as Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Canada Goose Jackets Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, were found guilty and sentenced to two years imprisonment. For What? Performing a peaceful protest song in a Russian Orthodox Cathedral that lasted less than a minute.
Most agreed that the court wouldn rule in the women favor; they themselves had predicted a guilty verdict.
canada goose Say what you will about Pussy Riot: this might not be Canada Goose Parka your kind of music. Their actions might offend you. But this doesn change the fact that freedom of expression, in whatever peaceful form it takes, is a human right, and one on which the protection of other rights rests.
canada goose coats on sale Since assuming office in May, President Vladimir Putin has blatantly rejected the call of hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens. Citizens who, in some of the largest demonstrations the country has ever seen, demanded cheap canada goose uk a more open and tolerant society, an end to a reticent and repressive regime. In response, Putin tightened his fist, signing laws that levy exorbitant fines on unsanctioned public meetings, crack buy canada goose jacket cheap down on dissent and restrict the actions of NGOs that provide vital public services.
Amidst this backdrop of increasing efforts to silence the voice of the people, the message of Pussy Riot Canada Goose canada goose online has sounded loud and clear. Why? Because Pussy Riot is much more than a group of punk rockers wearing brightly colored balaclavas. They are mothers, performers, and activists who want canada goose coats a say in their government and the laws that permeate their lives. They are each and every one of us.
canada goose store In Russia and beyond, individuals who were never civically active are stopping to discuss the importance of political participation and the institutions which impact their lives. Punk rockers and Orthodox Christian leaders alike, emboldened by the tidal wave of global solidarity and weary of the shrinking space for expression, have said enough is enough.
Canada Goose online Though Masha, Nadia and Katya were sentenced to prison today, we won allow these women to be Canada Goose Online silenced, Their message will continue to be heard. It wasn just Canada Goose Coats On Sale Pussy Riot canada goose coats on sale on trial; it was freedom of expression and the human rights of everyday citizens in Russia.
canada goose clearance sale As Maria stated in her closing statement, all today verdict could achieve is to rob these women of a freedom. True freedom has been spoken. It lives in the world and will go canada goose black friday sale on living to openness, with every person who is not indifferent, who hears us in this country. these things will make all of us just a little bit more free. We will see this yet. In fact they would have been found equally guilty of blasphemy in countries like Germany (I know for a fact) and probably in many other European countries. I not sure whether the USA has blasphemy laws or not. In theory they shouldnt but with all the christianity running wild, it canada goose clearance possible that there are.
Canada Goose Outlet Disturbances of the peace and tresspassing should be treated just like that, regardless of whether it happens in a Walmart or in canada goose store a church. Churches should not have special protection anywhere in the canada goose free world
August 21, 2012 at canadian goose jacket 3:34 Canada Goose Outlet pm Reply
buy canada goose jacket For all those who are so lovingly and ardently defending uk canada goose the rights of the worshippers, please be aware that these are one sided rights and I don mean in comparison with the three women either. Do you know that it is illegal to start any other kind of church in modern Russia (other than Russian Orthodox) unless you can prove that it had already existed there canada goose uk black friday prior to the revolution of 1917 and it was forced to close cheap Canada Goose due to the canada goose factory sale Communists? So, that means the only people who have religious freedom and whose right to worship in peace is to be canada goose uk outlet respected are the Russian Orthodox Christians. How convenient! They are also the ones who call Putin a from God. I am not defending what the women did, but if we going to Canada Goose sale defend worshippers, let defend all worshippers equally. Otherwise, it just all politics.
buy canada goose jacket cheap August 21, 2012 at 4:44 pm Reply
Canada Goose sale Ms Ringuette is, like the 3 girls jailed, clearly misguided. This isn about music, it about being able to distinguish between Protest Anarchy. They violated a property that was not theirs. They are no different than graffiti spray painters. This is a trivial issue that is only important to a miniscule minority and the State Deparftment foreign policy toward Russia.
cheap Canada Goose There are many more worthy and true human rights violations by friends of Washington, that Ms Ringuette chose to overlook. I list a few.
For months Bahrainis have been in the streets protesting their regime and uk canada goose outlet being killed, wounded, https://www.alifeoutofdebt.com jailed and tortured. Saudi military are in Bahrain for this purpose.
canada goose clearance For months Saudis have protested in the eastern provinces suffering the same.
canada goose deals The Syrian opposition forces have been committing the same atrocities as canada goose uk shop the Syrian military. Israelis have immolated themselves in the street protesting the Netanyu regime. My advice to Ms Ringuette is this, don drink the Kool Aid, also go after the atrocities that friends of Washington commit.
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