Since the March arrest of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot, following their "Punk Prayer" at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov has acted as the group's de facto media spokesman.
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Verzilov and Tolokonnikova first rose to prominence as members of the radical performance art collective Voina, staging stunts like holding an orgy at a Moscow biology museum to protest the election of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, throwing cats over the counter at McDonald's, and painting a "giant galactic space penis" on a St. Petersburg drawbridge.
This week, Verzilov is taking a different type of political action, holding meetings on Capitol Hill with supporters of the Magnitsky Act -- a proposed law that would allow the U.S. to sanction Russian officials involved in human rights abuses. On Friday, he will accept the Amnesty International Prisoners of Conscience award, presented by Yoko Ono, on Pussy Riot's behalf.
Verzilov is traveling in the United States in the company of the couple's four-year-old daughter Gara and three of the band's attorneys, two of whom have been placed under investigation themselves since taking up the case. On Wednesday, he sat down with FP at Amnesty International's Washington office to discuss the latest on the case, the challenges of reaching the Russian public, and why no one should take Medvedev very seriously.
Foreign Policy: Can you tell me a little bit about your goals for this trip?
Pyotr Verzilov: Basically, our main goal is to have an extension of the list which will accompany the Magnitsky Act -- the list of the people who cannot travel to the United States, open bank accounts, or basically do business with the United States -- to people connected with the Pussy Riot case. In our opinion, this is the only thing which influences Russian authorities or members of the law enforcement in any way. Obviously, they're well prepared for various proclamations letters, memorandums, and demonstrations, and signs of outrage of any kind. But the one thing they are not okay with is having their bank accounts frozen, with losing the ability to travel to the West, with losing their respected status and the possibility of a pleasurable lifestyle. In their minds, this is closely connected to the West and not with Russia.
One thing that a lot of people don't understand about Russia and Russian authorities is that all these people -- whatever the patriotism they show in their language -- they see their lifestyle as something very closely connected to the West. Obviously, most Russian bureaucrats are heavily rooted in corruption, and all their funds, their children's education, their vacations, everything is spent in nice places like the south of France. Their children get an education in the U.K., and other places. So the worst nightmare for all these people is to not have ability to continue this lifestyle in the West. And so the Putinist Russian elite is gravely scared of getting on the Magnitsky list, because in their eyes this will basically cut them off from the outside world. So this is exactly why Putin's government has been reacting so nervously to this list, and why they oppose it as fiercely as they can. So, this is the question we bring up in all our meetings with U.S. officials: We want to press for people not only related to the death of Sergei Magnitsky, but also to the jailing of the three Pussy Riot girls to appear on this list.
FP: Are there particular officials you have in mind?
PV: Yes, there is a list of around 30 officials which includes Judge [Marina] Syrova, three other judges related to the extension of the girls' prison sentences, plus investigators, prosecutors, and a bunch of other officials who are formally connected to their jailing which have carried out formal decisions, signed documents, gave direct and recorded orders related to the girls' imprisonment.
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