Russian Embassy in Prague surrounded by 1 000 Pussy Riot supporters

Roughly 1 000 supporters of the imprisoned members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, as well as promoters of techno music, gathered yesterday in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague for a street party under the slogan "St. Wenceslas, expel the capitalists and fascists!" According to organizers, the slogan refers to the Pussy Riot song that cost the band their imprisonment.

Both organizers and police officers estimated the number of demonstrators at 1 000. They planned to march from the embassy to Prague Castle, where they were to disperse.

Those participating surrounded the embassy from all sides. They were joined by a carnival parade that set out for the Embassy at around 15:00 from the Holešovice quarter. 

Banners carried by those at the scene expressed support for the members of Pussy Riot and criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the imprisoned band members, 23-year-old Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, recently began a hunger strike to draw attention to the poor conditions in the Russian prison where she is now serving a two-year sentence.

"Freedom is indivisible and if we don’t support it now in Russia, it will be at risk in this country. Whoever ignores the despotism of the Russian rulers is strengthen our domestic ones. Freedom for Pussy Riot," Bohumil Spálený, spokesperson for the Do it Yourself (DIY) carnival, told the Czech News Agency.     

As of yesterday at 16:47 the event had taken place without any security incidents. One of the cars driven by the techno music promoters was decorated with a large sign reading "Free Pussy Riot", and many demonstrators wore the colorful masks made famous by the band members.

Demonstrators were also carrying a paper coffin containing the paper figures of Putin and Czech President Miloš Zeman holding a bottle of alcohol. The Office of the Czech President was the demonstration’s next stop.

The event was by far the largest demonstration to take place during the celebrations of St. Wenceslas Day. Organizers planned to end their event at Prague Castle. 

The five Russian punk rockers from Pussy Riot held a "happening" in February 2012 in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, where they denounced the close relationships between politicians in the Kremlin and the Orthodox authorities. Police arrested three of the girls involved.  

While Ekaterina Samusevich was released on parole after winning her appeal, Tolokonnikova and another member of Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina, were sent behind bars for two years. Their sentences are set to end in March 2014 and the courts have refused their requests for early release and sentence reductions.  

The first DIY carnival in the Czech Republic took place in 2004. Spálený says the event focuses on critical topics and drew attention to discrimination against Romani people last year.