Prague’s Week of Freedom dominated by support for Pussy Riot

The Week of Freedom, a project established in Prague last year on the twentieth anniversary of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Czechoslovakia is both a celebration of the return of democracy to the Czech lands and a means of highlighting common values. This year’s event centres around freedom of speech and has been dominated by support for the jailed members of the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot.

Karel Schwarzenberg, photo: CTK

The main symbol of last year’s Week of Freedom was a pink tank installed on a floating pontoon on the Vltava river; this year it is the Pussy Riot Wall on Prague’s Wenceslas Square. Inspired by the John Lennon Wall which served as a wailing wall during the communist years the Pussy Riot Wall was an open invitation for people to come and write messages in support of the three members of Pussy Riot who were jailed after storming the Christ the Saviour cathedral in Moscow and performing a punk prayer asking the Virgin Mary to chase away Vladimir Putin. Among the first Czechs to come and write a message on the wall was Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg who wrote:

“I admire you greatly. Hold on. Russia will regain its dignity and freedom. We are with you.”

Pussy Riot

Throughout the week the Pussy Riot Wall has been filling up with hundreds of messages in support of the group written both by Czechs and foreign visitors to Prague. On Tuesday two alleged members of Pussy Riot threw hundreds of flyers informing about reprisals and suppression of freedoms under the rule of President Vladimir Putin from a building in the city centre.

Marek Vocel, a leading member of the non-governmental non-profit organization OPONA which established the Week of Freedom project, explains that the messages on the wall will not disappear when it is dismantled.

“The messages people have left here will be documented by a photographer and there will be pictures of all the events throughout the week which will be printed on postcards and sold at the United Islands Festival which will wind up the Week of Freedom. That way you can send your message of support to Russia – to the country’s politicians or to the jailed members of Pussy Riot.”

Public debates are an indelible part of the Week of Freedom and this year Opona situated them in a most natural environment – in twelve of the city’s most popular coffee houses. Marek Vocel again:

Photo: CTK

“Coffee houses and pubs everywhere tend to have a regular clientele – people who meet there and discuss topics of the day, they comment on what’s happening at home and abroad and we thought it would be a good idea to give the debates a certain direction and fresh impetus by bringing in 36 well-known personalities who would join in a debate on freedom of speech and democracy. We are hoping that such debates could become a tradition and take place in other cities as well.”

The debates are recorded and Opona says selected politicians will be sent copies.