Pussy Riot sentence could cause a real riot

The mother of a pregnant leukaemia patient who died after her chemotherapy was delayed over anti-abortion laws is accusing doctors of not putting her daughter's health first. The 16-year-old's plight attracted worldwide attention after she had to wait for chemotherapy because of an abortion ban in the Dominican Republic. Doctors were hesitant to give her chemotherapy because such treatment could terminate the pregnancy - a violation of the Dominican Constitution, which bans abortion. Some 20 days after she was admitted to the hospital, she finally started receiving treatment but she died yesterday. And so did any impression of free speech in post-Soviet Russia. That's right, three members of Russian female punk rock band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison yesterday after they were found guilty of hooliganism for performing a song critical of President Vladimir Putin in a church. The judge rejected the women's defense that they were acting from political motives, ruling that they had intended to insult the Russian Orthodox Church and undermine public order. This is indeed an attack on free speech, like the ones that the Russian people had had enough of in Soviet times. It puts a serious question mark over Russia's respect for international obligations of fair, transparent, and independent legal process. It also runs counter to Russia's international obligations as regards respect for freedom of expression. Everyone has the right to free speech, everywhere in the world. Pussy Riot should be released, or at the very least be granted asylum in Ecuador.