Time Shortlists Pussy Riot
Published: November 28, 2012 (Issue # 1737)
MOSCOW — Feminist punk band Pussy Riot has been shortlisted for Time magazine’s Person of the Year award.
“In a year when so many voices of liberty and dissent have suffered harsh retribution, the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot has paid a particularly steep price for provocative political expression,” the influential magazine said on its website.
This year’s nominees also include U.S. President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Syrian President Bashar Assad and U.S. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps.
The Pussy Riot group has been in the spotlight since performing a “punk prayer” in late February in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.
Two of the women are currently serving two-year jail sentences in prison colonies far from Moscow, while a third was let off with a suspended sentence on appeal.
Last year, Time named Tunisian fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi its person of the year for setting himself on fire in protest against the authoritarian regime in his country.