Madonna Supports Pussy Riot: 'Art Should Always Be Political'

August 07, 2012 from Telegraph.co.uk

Ahead of her concerts in Russia, Madonna spoke out in support of imprisoned punk rock group Pussy Riot. "I'm against censorship, and my whole career I've always supported freedom of expression," she says. "I hope they [Pussy Riot] do not have to serve seven years in jail; that would be a tragedy."

(more) (less)

In This Video

Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk-rock collective that stages politically provocative impromptu performances in Moscow, on subjects such as the status of women in Russia, and most recently against the election campaign of Prime Minister Putin for president of Russia. Explore this topic

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American singer-songwriter, actress, director, dancer, and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance and performed in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy. Madonna is known f... Explore this topic

Freedom of speech

Vārda brīvība ir vienas no pamattiesībām, ko paredz Vispārējā cilvēktiesību deklarācija. Plašākā nozīmē ar to saprot tiesības brīvi un publiski jebkādā veidā paust viedokli vai ierosināt darbību, šo tiesību izmantošanas procesā tiekot aizsargātam no jebkādiem centieniem šī vie... Explore this topic

Moscow

Moscow is the capital city and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center in Russia and in Europe. According to Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world. Moscow is the n... Explore this topic

Russia

Russia or, also officially known as the Russian Federation, is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania an... Explore this topic

Censorship

Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body. It can be done by governments and private organizations or b... Explore this topic

Human rights in Russia

The rights and liberties of the citizens of the Russian Federation are granted by Chapter 2 of the Constitution adopted in 1993. Russia is the signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has also ratified a number of other international human rights instruments,... Explore this topic

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician who has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008, and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. Putin was also previously the Chai... Explore this topic

Protest song

A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs. It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social movements that have an associated body of songs are the abolition movement, w... Explore this topic

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. Punk b... Explore this topic

Also See

Pussy Riot

Freedom of speech

Madonna (entertainer)

Watch Next

0:46

Russian Court Rejects Pussy Riot Band Member's Appeal

Euronews | Jan 16

A Russian court has thrown out an attempt by Maria Alekhina to have her prison sentence deferred. The member of Pussy Riot, the feminist punk band ...