Overview
- A Moscow judge at Tverskoy District Court ruled on Dec. 15 to outlaw Pussy Riot after a filing by Prosecutor General Alexander Gutsan’s office.
- The case was heard behind closed doors, and the group’s lawyer Leonid Solovyov said they will appeal the decision.
- The ruling bans activities in Russia and exposes associates to prosecution, with the group warning that even online engagement or owning its materials could trigger charges.
- Several leading members live in exile, and in September five people linked to the collective—Maria Alyokhina, Taso Pletner, Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrova—were sentenced in absentia to prison terms of up to 13 years for alleged “false information” about the military.
- Pussy Riot’s leaders condemned the move as an effort to erase the group, while the decision fits a wider pattern of Russian courts using ‘extremism’ labels against perceived critics.