Musicians unite for Pussy Riot

By Irina Titova

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: July 25, 2012 (Issue # 1719)

Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the U.S. group Red Hot Chili Peppers, appeared on stage in St. Petersburg during a concert last Friday wearing a T-shirt bearing the name of the controversial Russian punk rock group Pussy Riot.

Kiedis also put on a similar T-shirt during the band’s concert in Moscow the next day.

This was how the Red Hot Chili Peppers chose to show their support for the young women from the group that performed a “punk prayer” in one of the country’s main orthodox churches, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in Moscow in February. The women have been in pre-trial detention for the past six months.

A Moscow district court prolonged the detention of the group members by another six months only a few hours before the concert. The women face charges of hooliganism and face up to seven years in prison.

Red Hot Chili Peppers also passed along some letters of support written by celebrated rock musicians to the women. The letters were written by Kiedis, Chili Peppers bassist Michael Balzary (better known by his stage name Flea) and Alex Kapranos, lead singer of the group Franz Ferdinand, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Pyotr Verzilov, husband of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the Pussy Riot members currently in custody, said the musicians had asked him to pass the letters on to the women. Verzilov said the idea of the meeting with the musicians came from the concert organizers, RIA Novosti reported.