As the dust settles after the Pussy Riot show trial and the world of fair-weather activists moves on to the next fashionable Twitter-fueled cause, Via Meadia awaits some kind of definitive polling to tell us how Russians perceived the verdict.
The Levada Center, a reliable non-governmental polling agency, did perform several polls in the runup to the verdict, however, and they do broadly bear out our earlier take: that your average Russian, if he was paying attention at all, thought the trial was generally fair, that the members of Pussy Riot were being offensive to the Orthodox Church, and that the young women did deserve some form of punishment.
Here are some telling findings from a poll done in late July:
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MAIN REASON FOR THE PROSECUTION OF THE MEMBERS OF PUSSY RIOT?
42% – They profaned the religious shrines and insulted the feelings of believers.
17% – They called for Putin’s departure from power.
29% – They are just engaged in hooliganism, disturbing the public order.
8% – All of the above are true.
6% – Do not know.WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE REASON FOR THE VIGOROUS PROSECUTION OF PUSSY RIOT?
18% – The government wants to show their support for the Church.
11% – The protesters “got to” Putin himself, and he’s taking revenge on them.
47% – The protesters grossly violated the norms of public morality.
15% – The government wants to show a willingness to be tough on protesters.
10% – Do not know.WHAT PUNISHMENT DO YOU THINK THE MEMBERS OF PUSSY RIOT DESERVE?
16% – Improsonment for more than 2 years.
10% – Imprisonment for a period of 6 months to 2 years.
11% – Imprisonment for a few months, with time served for being in custody.
29% – Mandatory forced labor.
20% – A heavy fine.
5% – No punishment.
9% – Do not know.
And here are some findings from a poll done in early August:
WHO OR WHAT DO YOU THINK PUSSY RIOT WAS PROTESTING AGAINST?
16% – Against the Church’s participation in politics.
14% – Against the Church and the faithful.
13% – Against Putin.
20% – All of the above.
36% – Do not know.WHO, IN YOUR OPINION, INITIATED THE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF PUSSY RIOT?
23% – The wider church community.
19% – The Russian Orthodox Church.
9% – The Presidential Administration.
6% – Patriarch Kirill.
4% – Vladimir Putin.
1% – Someone else.
38% – Do not know.IS THE TRIAL FAIR, OBJECTIVE AND IMPARTIAL?
11% – Definitely yes.
33% – Probably yes.
13% – Probably not.
4% – Definitely not.
39% – Do not know.
Click through the links to see the full results of the surveys, and run them through an online translator if you can’t read Russian. The results are reasonably easy to decypher.
Now while it’s probably true that these polls reflect the impression made by Russian media coverage as much as they do the authentic feelings of the Russian people, it doesn’t change the fact that the Pussy Riot affair seems to have done little damage to Putin and few favors for Russia’s liberals. Only 5 percent favored letting Pussy Riot go completely free, 44 percent thought the trial was at least probably fair, and many thought it had a lot to do with the profaning of the Orthodox Church, which was unacceptable. Western media coverage has ignored this side of the story almost completely.
For our part, Via Meadia would like to see Putin show a little bit of real humanity by granting the band clemency. For that matter, we hope Patriarch Kirill of Russia asks President Putin to forgive the band. Christians generally don’t think that jail is the right punishment for blasphemy. We like to leave such matters to God.
However we also think that the fair-weather protesters who have ignored other human rights violations in Russia but have jumped on this one are missing the point. Far graver abuses of human rights have gone on in recent years. Neither life, nor freedom, nor property is secure in Russia today for those who question the Putinocracy. While rock groups with cheeky names deserve as much protection of the law as anybody else, the lack of concern about past abuses for less trendy protesters paved the way for this particular event.
That said, the U.S. government needs to work constructively with Moscow where opportunities present. Ever since the early 20th century, when protesters wanted the United States to end a treaty of friendship and commerce with Russia over its vicious persecution of its Jews, Americans have struggled to get the balance right between concerns about Russia’s domestic policy and efforts to cooperate where the interests of the two countries converge in the international arena. There isn’t a magic answer to this question, but it’s one we still need to wrestle with today.
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