A RUSSIAN activist has been sentenced by a Moscow court to 11 years in absentia after urinating on a portrait of dictator Vladimir Putin.
Anastasia ‘Taso’ Pletner, 28, member of Russian protest group Pussy Riot, was one of five activists who faced a Moscow court over charges stemming from an online video and a live performance.
East2WestThe extreme protest took place at a performance in Germany[/caption]
East2WestAnastasia ‘Taso’ Pletner, 28, was sentenced in absentia to 11 years after urinating on Vladimir Putin’s portrait[/caption]
East2WestAnastasia was sentenced alongside fellow Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina[/caption]
The anti-war video posted online in 2022 called “Mama, don’t watch TV” featured what Russian authorities referred to as “false information” about the Russian military killing Ukrainian civilians.
The second charge related to a concert held at the Munich Pinakothek der Moderne, where Anastasia donned a red balaclava and stood on a table over a portrait of Putin.
She was seen lifting her black smock before urinating on the picture of the Russian tyrant.
Anastasia and her five co-accused – who are all abroad – say the charges were politically motivated.
On Monday, long-time activist Maria Alyokhina was also jailed in absentia for 13 years, alongside fellow Pussy Riot members Olga Borisova, Diana Burkot and Alina Petrov, who were each sentenced in absentia to spend eight years behind bars.
Anastasia was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison for the public urination.
The sentences come alongside the Russian regime’s latest crackdown on the ban of criticism towards Putin’s military.
Russian prosecutor Vladimir Nagaitsev said Pussy Riot “opposed the current government”, adding that Alyokhina held “left-wing political views”.
Pussy Riot has an extended history of dissenting against Putin and his government.
Alyokhina rose to fame when she performed an anti-Putin protest song with other Pussy Riot members at Moscow‘s Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 2012.
She was jailed for two years alongside fellow members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich after the stunt.
In 2018, two other members (Olya Borisova and Sasha Sofeev) of the activist group disappeared after Russian secret police smashed their computers and phones.
The pair were taken in Crimea by the Federal Security Service (FSB), before being released a short time later.
The group took to social media to spread the word, saying “We found Sasha and Olya. They were detained several times but safe now”.
The FSB is the successor to what used to be the KGB during the Soviet Union.
Later in 2018, a Pussy Riot member invaded a World Cup final before being allegedly poisoned by the government.
Three members disrupted the match by running onto the pitch in police uniforms in September 2018.
One of the trio, Pyotr Verzilov, was later taken to hospital after “losing his sight and ability to move”.
He was later flown from Russia to Berlin for medical treatment.
Shutterstock EditorialRussian activist punk group Pussy Riot have a long history of opposing Putin’s regime[/caption]