Moscow On The Seine: French Police Arrest Pussy Riot Protesters For Wearing Masks

You can now be arrested in public in France simply for wearing a mask:

Several people protesting peacefully in Marseille against the trial of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot were detained by police for wearing balaclavas, under France's controversial law that bans Muslim niqabs and all face-coverings from public places.

About 30 demonstrators gathered outside the Russian consulate in the southern French city on Friday to protest against the trial of members of the feminist group famous for wearing bright dresses and colourful balaclavas.

But police swooped on about seven wearing multicoloured face-masks in solidarity with the band, reported La Provence. Asked why the police had stopped the demonstrators who had been standing peacefully behind a banner about the power of poetry, a senior officer told the newspaper: "They are wearing balaclavas in a public space. It's illegal." He said the demonstrators would be questioned and a report written.

In April 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy's government introduced a law banning women from wearing the niqab, or full face-veil, in public places. To circumvent accusations that the law singled out Muslims, the bill was officially called the law against covering one's face in public places.

Special exemptions were created for motorcycle helmets or sports equipment such as fencing masks. There are also exemptions for people appearing in parades, celebrations or places of worship.

The Marseille protesters – including poets, a book editor, and a former culture official – who had removed their masks at police request, were put in a riot van and driven to the nearest police station amid cries of "Absurd!" and "Ridiculous!". They were released that afternoon. Under the law, the case can be referred to a local judge who can hand down a €150 fine, a citizenship course or both.

"We came here to defend freedom of expression in Russia and we find ourselves stopped by French police," one pensioner at the rally told the paper.

The irony in all of this is that the law against public mask wearing is really aimed at Muslim head garb, but of course they extended the law to all masks so as to not make it look discriminatory.

Why did Islamic terrorists attack us on 9/11 again?

Oh, yeah, I remember now - they hate us "for our freedoms."

Once In A Generation

Billy Bragg sends a message to the three members of Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in a prison colony today:

Well said.

Pussy Riot - Punk Prayer

The Old Mask Law Of 1845

Gothamist reports that at least three masked Pussy Riot supporters, and perhaps as many as six, were arrested at a rally outside the Russian Consulate attended by about 40 people.

The justification for the arrests?

As we learned after some OWS arrests last year, "wearing masks is in violation of a law that bars two or more participants from doing so." The law dates back to 1845.

Ah, yes - the old two or more participants are forbidden from wearing masks at the same time and congregating law.

That makes sense.

But how about these guys? Why aren't they arrested for violating the old two or more participants are forbidden from wearing masks at the same time and congregating law?



Frankly I think the NYPD ought to be arresting Dirty, Creepy Elmo in Times Square before they arrest the masked Pussy Riot supporters outside the Russian Consulate.

Who is the bigger nuisance - the masked Pussy Riot supporters or Dirty, Creepy Elmo?

Moscow on The Hudson Update: NYPD Make Multiple Arrests At NYC Pussy Riot Rally

Gothamist posted the following:

Want to get arrested in New York City? Don't even bother with a cathedral punk performance, just wear a #PussyRiot mask twitpic.com/akji9j

Moscow on the Hudson it is.

Moscow On The Hudson - We Are All Pussy Riot Now (UPDATED)

Russian punkers Pussy Riot were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, over a protest in a cathedral" today.

The judge said that Pussy Riot members had "crudely undermined social order" during their action in February.

Member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has said through her lawyer that "Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country."

Meanwhile, back in Moscow on the Hudson, Dear Leader Michael Bloomberg's army, the NYPD, arrested Harlem activist Joseph Jazz Hayden, 71, on felony weapons charges after they illegally searched his car and found a pen knife and commemorative mini-baseball bat.

Hayden runs Harlem/NYC Cop Watch, a site that documents police brutality and transgressions and has videotaped many instances of police aggression and racial profiling as part of Herr Bloomberg's Stop-And-Frisk policy.

How similar these two cases are - the arrest (and now conviction) of three Pussy Riot members for protesting the Orthodox Church's support of Putin and the arrest of Hayden for documenting NYPD transgressions and crimes.

One would hope that a judge here will throw the NYPD case against Hayden - ridiculous on its face - out.

But given how quickly this nation and in particular this city have transitioned into a police state after the 9/11 attacks, that is no longer a by-gone conclusion.

Today I want to publicly state my support for both Pussy Riot and Joseph Jazz Hayden.

The treatment of these three Pussy Riot members in Russia by Vladimir Putin and Joseph Jazz Hayden in the United States by Michael Bloomberg shows how we now live in one big world run by oligarchs and plutocrats.

Vladimir Putin and Michael Bloomberg are men made from the same cloth and they will have you stomped by their respective police forces if you step outside their established social orders.

UPDATE - 11:32 AM: The three members of Pussy Riot convicted on "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" charges have been sentenced to two years in a prison colony.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, were handed the sentence by a judge in Moscow amid a wave of protests around the world.

The three stared ahead defiantly from inside a glass cage, their wrists shackled in handcuffs, as the verdict was read. Supporters and opposition activists blamed the case against the women – and the tough sentence – on Vladimir Putin.

"Whatever Putin wants, Putin gets. That is the only thing to say," Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, said on leaving the court.

Russian police have been rounding up Pussy Riot supporters - including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov and leftist opposition group leader Sergei Udaltsov - in the wake of the judge's decision.

Here in Moscow on the Hudson, there is a rally in support of Pussy Rio at 46th and Broadway at 1 PM today.

No word on whether Mayor Bloomberg will have Pussy Riot supporters orange-netted and maced by Tony Bologna.

But bring wet cloth just in case.