(EDITOR'S NOTE: It should be remembered that the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church was taken over by the KGB in order to keep tabs on the "believers")

(August 14, 2012) Open Letter in Support of Pussy Riot (Rodchenko School for Photography and Media Art)

We, faculty of the Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia and other members of the Russian art community, are extremely alarmed by the trial of the three young women accused of hooliganism as a result of their performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Many of us know one of them, our alumna artist Ekaterina Samutsevich, quite well, but we also know the others, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, from their performances. We write this letter to express our complete solidarity with them and also to elaborate on a few points belonging to our field of professional competence.

The accusations against Pussy Riot are false and hypocritical. They are based on "sacrilege," a term that does not exist in current criminal law.