Everybody in the Western media seems to have forgotten Pussy Riot. Well, not forgotten, they still wheel them out every so often as symbols of the repressiveness of the Putin regime – but news of actual developments in the affair have come to a standstill. Which is a pity, because they undermine the commonly accepted narrative about what it was in the first place.
I am talking, of course, about the estrangement of Pussy Riot from their original trio of lawyers – Mark Feygin, Nikolay Polozov, and Violetta Volkova. This began approximately when they Pussy Riot lost their case and got sent off to jail, which led them to switch lawyers. Their new lawyer, Irina Khrunova, managed to get Samutsevich (one of the Pussies) released by arguing that she was not an active participant in the “performance.” Khrunova continues to represent the other two who are still in jail. Here is pretty much the only article you will find out about this in the Western media. (Funny that it’s in The Independent, and not in the Guardian, which was otherwise Pussy Riot’s most fiery supporter).
Then Mark Feygin, via his wife’s company, tried to register the Pussy Riot brand. Pussy Riot claims that he did not have their permission to do so and that it was an attempt to cash in on the case. Feygin denies this, saying that he did have permission and that his intentions were to prevent OTHERS from unscrupulously profiting off the name. He says the newspapers smeared him. In any case this is a moot point anyway, as Russia’s patent office denied them their trademark anyway; but this was just one of a series of wedges that would alienate the lawyers from the Pussies.
Things moved up into critical mode when Samutsevich asked Russia’s bar association to consider Volkova’s status as a lawyer, and now, to dismiss her. This prompted a furious, vitriolic, and frankly stunning reaction from the lawyers:
САМУЦЕВИЧ ПОВТОРНО ОБРАТИЛАСЬ В ПАЛАТУ ЗА ЛИШЕНИЕМ СТАТУСА АДВОКАТА УДАЛЬЦОВА ВИОЛЕТТЫ ВОЛКОВОЙ!
— Mark Feygin (@mark_feygin) April 10, 2013
Mark Feygin: Samutsevich again requested the Association to disbar Violetta Volkova!
Вне всяких сомнений, мы имеем дело с КРЫСОЙ!
— Mark Feygin (@mark_feygin) April 10, 2013
Mark Feygin: Without a doubt, we are dealing with a RAT here!
В связи с Самуцевич, всё вспоминаю бигмак, который Виолетта носила ей в СИЗО…Надо же быть такой неблагодарной крысой!
— Mark Feygin (@mark_feygin) April 10, 2013