Brazil Government Grants Gay Man 'Maternity' Leave

Associated Press, Aug 30, 2012

SAO PAULO (AP) -- Brazil's social security agency has for the first time granted a four-month "maternity" leave for a man in a civil union with another man.

Lucimar da Silva asked for the leave two years ago when he and his partner adopted a child.

Brazilian law mandates that companies provide a four-month paid leave from work for a mother and five days paid leave for a father.

Silva argued it would be discriminatory to deny him the longer leave, noting the social security agency has already approved the four-month benefit for same-sex couples in which the partners are women.

An agency statement Thursday says the decision for da Silva does not set a legal precedent. It says all-male couples with adopted children will have to individually petition for the four-month leave.

Federal Court: Discrimination in Texas Voting Maps

ABC News, Paul J. Weber, Associated Press, San Antonio, August 28, 2012

A federal court has found evidence of discrimination in Texas voting maps drawn by the state's Republican-controlled Legislature.

The U.S. District Court in Washington ruled in a lengthy opinion Tuesday that state prosecutors failed to show Texas lawmakers did not draw congressional and state Senate district maps "without discriminatory purposes."

Luis Vera, an attorney for the League of United Latin American Citizens, called the ruling "better late than never" and a win for his and other minority rights groups that sued the state over the maps.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott immediately vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Colombia rebels 'to hold peace talks' with government

BBC News, 27 August 2012

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Farc rebels have been fighting
the government since 1964

The Colombian government and the country's largest rebel group, the Farc, have signed an agreement to begin peace talks, according to Latin American media reports.

The regional media network Telesur said the two sides had signed a formal agreement in the Cuban capital, Havana, to begin talks in October.

The Colombian government has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.

The left-wing rebels have been fighting the government for almost five decades.

Last August, the Farc leader at the time, Alfonso Cano, said the group was ready for peace negotiations.

Since then, rumours have circulated about secret meetings between government representatives and the rebels in the Cuban capital.

According to Telesur News Director Jorge Enrique Botero, the first round of talks would be held in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on 5 October.

The negotiating team would then continue holding talks in Havana "until a peace deal to put an end to five decades of conflict" was agreed, Mr Botero said.

Decades of conflict

Upon taking office just over two years ago, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signalled his willingness to open peace talks.

He has come under severe criticism for this from his predecessor in office, Alvaro Uribe.

The Farc also re-stated their openness to talks in a letter sent to a non-governmental organisation in March.

Following the death of Alfonso Cano in a bombing raid, Farc's new leader, known as Timochenko, said it was "worth betting on peace".

Colombian security forces have achieved a series of successes against the rebel group in the past years, killing some of its key leaders and arresting many others.

But in recent months, the rebels have stepped up their guerrilla campaign, bombing electricity pylons and bridges and disrupting key infrastructure.

Colombian security forces estimate that the rebels have some 8,000 guerrillas fighting Latin America's longest-running insurgency.

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Britain 'committed to diplomatic solution' over Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder has been living in Ecuador's London embassy for more than two months

guardian.co.uk, Reuters in London, Sunday 26 August 2012

A policeman stands outside the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where
Julian Assange has been living for more than two months. Photograph: Max Nash/PA

Britain says it remains committed to reaching a diplomatic solution to the presence of Julian Assange in Ecuador's London embassy, after both countries took steps to defuse a row over his action in taking refuge.

The WikiLeaks founder has been living in the embassy's cramped quarters for more than two months in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations.

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, said on Saturday that Britain had withdrawn a threat to enter the embassy to arrest Assange, to whom Ecuador has granted asylum, and that he now considered the "unfortunate incident" over.

Correa was responding to a British assurance that it was not threatening the embassy and that Britain was committed to the Vienna convention, which protects the inviolability of diplomatic premises.

"We remain committed to the process of dialogue we have entered into and we want that to resume with the government of Ecuador," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

There was a furious reaction in Ecuador when the UK said that an obscure domestic law allowed it, under extreme circumstances, to remove the embassy's diplomatic status, exposing Assange to immediate arrest by police.

Ecuador accused Britain of planning to storm the embassy and demanded it withdraw the threat.

Britain said it had not meant to threaten Ecuador, a plea that fell on deaf ears, prompting it to send Ecuador a formal communication on Thursday confirming that the embassy was safe.

The communication was copied to diplomats at a meeting on Friday of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Washington, which discussed the spat.

A British diplomat attending the meeting invited Ecuador to resume "constructive discussions" on Assange, the Foreign Office said. "We believe that our two countries should be able to find a diplomatic solution," the diplomat added, according to a transcript issued by the Foreign Office.

Britain says it is determined to fulfil a legal obligation to send Assange to Sweden.

Correa responded to the British diplomatic approach by saying in his weekly media address on Saturday: "We consider this unfortunate incident over, after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy."

The OAS had condemned the British threat, and South American foreign ministers backed Correa's position that Britain's warning was unacceptable and could set a dangerous precedent.

Correa says he shares Assange's fears that, if handed over to Sweden, he might be extradited to the United States to face charges over WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of US cables.

US and European government sources say the United States has issued no criminal charges against the WikiLeaks founder and has made no attempt to extradite him.

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Fatal blast at Venezuela's Amuay refinery

BBC News, 25 August 2012

The Amuay complex has had

problems in the past

At least 19 people have been killed and dozens more injured in an explosion at Venezuela's biggest oil refinery, the local governor says.

Stella Lugo said there was no risk of further explosions at the Amuay plant in the north of the country.

Officials earlier said a gas tank had blown up during the night, damaging the plant and nearby buildings.

The Amuay refinery is one of the biggest in the world, producing some 645,000 barrels a day.

Officials have been giving regular updates on the number of dead and injured.

Ms Lugo, governor of Falcon state, earlier said seven had died but later revised the figure to 19.

She also said more than 50 people had been injured and were being treated in local hospitals.

She said there was still a big fire at the plant, but the situation was under control.

Earlier, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez blamed the explosion on a gas leak.

"It was a significant explosion, there is appreciable damage to infrastructure and houses opposite the refinery," he said.

Analysts say refineries in Venezuela, South America's biggest oil producer, have suffered from a long list of problems including power failures and accidents.

The fire is said to be under control

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Mexico police fire on US embassy staff

BBC News, 24 August 2012

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Two people employed at the US embassy in Mexico have been wounded after their car was mistakenly fired on by police south of Mexico city, officials say.

The Mexican Navy said the US personnel were on a main road to the city of Cuernavaca when the shooting happened.

Details are still unclear, but the navy said the US vehicle had been fleeing from gunmen in another car.

The US state department said it was working with Mexican authorities to investigate the incident.

Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the two men were receiving "appropriate medical care and are in stable condition".

"We have no further information to share at this time," she added.

One of the men was said to have been hit in the leg and the other in the stomach and hand. Both were admitted to hospital.

The Mexican public security ministry and marines said in a statement: "Today at 08:00 a diplomatic vehicle belonging to the US embassy was hit by multiple bullets from personnel of the federal police in the Tres Marias-Huitzilac highway."

It said the embassy personnel had been heading to a military installation when a carload of gunmen opened fire on them and chased them, along with a Mexican naval officer accompanying them.

Alerted to the gunfire, a federal police patrol vehicle came to the scene and apparently opened fire.

The federal police officers involved have been held for questioning, the navy said.

Pictures from the scene showed the Toyota vehicle riddled with bullet-holes.

The shooting happened in an area where drug gangs and leftist rebels have been known to operate in the past.

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Nicaragua seizes $7 million from fake journalists

Associated Press, Aug. 24, 2012

Nicaragua National Police present 18 foreigners believed to be Mexican
 nationals who posed as Televisa journalists, in Managua, Nicaragua,
Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. Police Commissioner Aminta Granera said the
men posed  as Televisa journalists to cover the trial of Nicaraguan businessman
 Henry Fariñas, survivor of an attack that killed the singer Facundo Cabral last
year. The Mexican ambassador to Nicaragua confirmed that the Mexican news
 channel has no correspondents in Nicaragua. It is unclear why the men were
posing as journalists. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan police found about $7 million in smuggled cash in vans driven by people posing as members of a Mexican television news crew, National Police chief Aminta Granera announced Friday.

A Nicaraguan National Police officer walks

 between a confiscated fleet of vans

 bearing the logo of Mexican news channel 

Televisa at a presentation of 18 foreigners

 believed to be Mexican nationals who

 posed as Televisa journalists, in Managua, 

Nicaragua, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. (AP
Photo/ Esteban Felix)

The 18 people travelling in six vans were detained Wednesday at Nicaragua's northern border with Honduras, after they entered Nicaragua saying they had come to cover the trial of suspects linked to the 2011 killing of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral.

That trial involves accusations of massive money laundering.

Some of the vans were painted with the logo of Mexico's Televisa network, which says it has no connection to the suspects. At least one van carried on its roof what appeared to be the kind of satellite dish that television networks use for remote transmissions.

Televisa said it had no reporters in Nicaragua, nor had it sent anyone there.

Granera said the suspects told police about 25 bundles hidden in the vans that contained the cash.

She said the elaborate ruse was intended to smuggle the cash through Nicaragua to the neighboring nation of Costa Rica to the south.

(AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Mexican drug cartels frequently buy Colombian cocaine to ship north to the U.S. market, and often must smuggle cash proceeds from the drug sales back down south to pay the Colombia suppliers.

Granera said that Interpol and the Mexican embassy had confirmed that at least some of the suspects were Mexicans, and that several had been identified as employees of private security firms from Tamaulipas, the northern Mexico border state that is home to the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.

The suspects told border guards they were entering the country to cover the drug-trafficking and organized-crime trial of suspects linked to the 2011 killing of Argentine folk singer Facundo Cabral. Officials say the gang that allegedly carried out that attack was in fact targeting a man riding with Cabral that day, Henry Farinas.

Prosecutors say Farinas was an associate of the gang along with Costa Rican Alejandro Jimenez Gonzalez, who allegedly ordered the attack on Farinas in retaliation for a purported betrayal.

Trial documents in the case against a total of 24 defendants suggest the gang laundered more than $1 billion through Nicaraguan financial institutions.

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Peru police seize thousands of dried seahorses

BBC News, 24 August 2012 

Seahorse fishing has been banned in Peru since 2004

Police in Peru have seized more than 16,000 dried seahorses which were to be exported illegally to Asian countries.

Seahorse powder is used in China, Japan and elsewhere in traditional medicine and for its alleged aphrodisiac uses.

Peruvian authorities say the traffickers ran away and abandoned their illicit cargo on a street in the capital, Lima.

Police chief Victor Fernandez told the BBC the cargo could have fetched up to $250,000 (£160,000) abroad.

Seahorse fishing is illegal in Peru, but the high prices paid for seahorse powder abroad make it difficult for the authorities to enforce the ban.

Mr Fernandez said the cargo - three cases weighing 27.5kg (60 pounds) - was left behind following a police operation near the Lima's airport.

"They are sent to Asian countries and used as aphrodisiacs. In China this product is also used to cure asthma," he told the BBC's Mattia Cabitza in Lima.

The marine fish, which finds northern Peru's warmer waters a perfect breeding ground, is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

But Mr Fernandez said that last year a total of 20 tonnes of dried seahorses were seized across the world - half a tonne in Peru alone.

Julian Assange can remain in Ecuador's embassy 'for however long it takes'

Britain should withdraw 'threat' to storm building in Knightsbridge, say Ecuadorean officials

guardian.co.uk, Luke Harding, Thursday 23 August 2012

Police officers enter the building containing the Ecuadorean embassy – where
 Julian Assange has been staying – on Tuesday. Photograph: Oli Scarff/
Getty Images

Ecuadorean officials have said that Britain should renounce its "threat" to storm the country's London embassy, and that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could remain inside the building for as long as he wanted – "two centuries" if necessary.

The officials said there had been no contact with the Foreign Office since last Thursday, when Ecuador's president Rafael Correa announced he was granting Assange asylum. Ecuador was keen to resume negotiations with the UK, the officials said, but added that William Hague should now take back a threat to enter the embassy as "an indication of good faith".

Ecuadorean diplomatic sources also insisted there had been no secret deal to grant Assange asylum. They said Assange simply turned up at the front door two months ago "at midday" and rang the bell. The Ecuadorean ambassador, Ana Alban, was forced to dash home to fetch a blow-up mattress for Assange to sleep on. Since he took up residence, the embassy had got a bigger fridge, the sources said.

The UK last week gave a written warning to Quito saying that it could invoke the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 to arrest Assange inside the Knightsbridge embassy. This prompted a furious response from Quito. Hague later clarified that the FCO was not threatening to "storm an embassy". On Thursday, however, an Ecuadorian diplomatic source said: "The threat hasn't been withdrawn."

The source suggested that the police presence around the building was excessive, with the embassy under siege at one point last week and still surrounded by dozens of policemen now. "It was amazing. There used to be four or six policemen since Mr Assange got here. Suddenly there were three trucks of police surrounding us. There were police on the interior stairs. There was even one in the window of the toilet. It was clearly a message."

Ecuadorean officials said they still believed a compromise over the Assange case was possible. They said Sweden and the UK should give political assurances that the WikiLeaks founder, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden, would not be re-extradited from there to the US. Failing that, they said Britain should grant him "safe passage" so he could fly to Ecuador.

There seems little prospect the UK will agree to this. The Foreign Office says it is legally obliged to extradite Assange to Sweden. Both sides now appear to be settling in for the long haul. Asked how long Assange might remain at the embassy, an Ecuadorean official said: "However long it takes. Eight years. Two centuries." The official said it was ridiculous to suggest diplomats would try to smuggle him out.

On Thursday the FCO said in a statement: "We have made clear we are committed to a diplomatic solution.

"We will be sending a formal communication today to the Ecuadorean embassy. We will not go into the detail of private discussions."

On Wednesday the news agency Reuters, citing US government sources, said Washington had issued no criminal charges against Assange. His supporters claim the US is plotting to extradite and to execute him. Obama administration officials remain divided over the wisdom of prosecuting Assange, Reuters said, and the likelihood of US criminal charges against him is probably receding rather than growing.

On Friday foreign ministers from across Latin America will meet in Washington to discuss the Assange case. A draft resolution from the Organisation of American States calls on the UK to comply with the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and to respect the "inviolability" of the Ecuadorean embassy. The Foreign Office has been lobbying South American states to abstain. On Thursday, however, one Ecuadorean official predicted the FCO's efforts were doomed, adding: "Most Latin American countries are working as one [on this]."

On Sunday Assange made his first public appearance since walking into the embassy in June, addressing crowds of journalists and supporters from a first-floor balcony window, with Metropolitan police officers a few feet below him on the pavement. He called on President Obama to abandon his alleged "witch-hunt" against WikiLeaks. Assange also thanked several other Latin American countries for their support – implicitly warning Britain that any dispute with Ecuador could rapidly snowball into a conflict with the entire region. He said nothing about allegations by two Swedish women that he sexually assaulted them.

On Thursday Ecuadorean officials denied that it had been a provocative move to allow Assange to use embassy property to berate the United States. "It was the balcony or a window," one said. "He had to deliver a message. A lot of people were wanting to know what he looked like. They wanted an image. It had political value."

The officials also shrugged off criticism of Ecuador's record on press freedom, which has come under increasing scrutiny since Assange sought asylum. "Walk around the streets of Quito, hear the radio and watch TV, and see what some journalists say about the government. There is a lot of freedom," one source said.

Scotland Yard has declined to comment on the policing operation at the embassy, while the FCO has said the letter sent to Ecuadorean authorities on Wednesday of last week was not menacing and that the rights of the country's officials would continue to be respected by the government.

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Judge in Chile orders arrests over missing US hiker

BBC News, 22 August 2012

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A judge in Chile has ordered the arrest of eight former police and army officials over the kidnapping of a US hiker during the Pinochet years.

Boris Weisfeiler, a Princeton University mathematics professor, disappeared in 1985 while hiking on his own near Chile's border with Argentina.

Judge Jorge Zepeda cited evidence from declassified US files.

This includes witness accounts of how Mr Weisfeiler was abducted and brought to a secret police torture centre.

The centre was located in Colonia Dignidad, a former German enclave founded in the 1960s by a former Nazi nurse, near the city of Parral, some 350km (220 miles) south of the capital, Santiago.

The suspects will be tried for "aggravated kidnapping" and "complicity" over the American's disappearance, judicial authorities said in a statement.

Mr Weisfeiler, who was born in Moscow in 1941 and naturalised as a US citizen in 1981, had been visiting Chile alone during his winter holiday when he vanished.

It is believed he was walking near the border with Argentina when the suspects allegedly seized him because he was wearing military garb, making them believe he was a militant. 

The suspects have until today "persistently tried to conceal information about the circumstances of the arrest and whereabouts of the American citizen", the judicial authorities' statement said.

Some 350 cases remain open involving about 700 military officers and civilians active under the late Gen Augusto Pinochet's rule (1973-1990), AFP news agency reports.

Some 3,000 people disappeared or were killed during this time.

Guatemala ex-police chief jailed for civil war kidnap

BBC News, 22 August 2012

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Garcia faces separate charges over
 the deaths of 36 people in the 1980
Spanish embassy fire

A former head of Guatemala's police force has been sentenced to 70 years in prison for the kidnapping of a student during the country's brutal civil war three decades ago.

Pedro Garcia Arredondo was found guilty of orchestrating the abduction of Edgar Saenz, who disappeared in 1981.

Garcia is the latest in a string of former security officers to be tried for abuses during the 1960-96 war.

He is the most senior Guatemalan police official to be jailed for war crimes.

Garcia, who headed the national police from 1974-1982, was arrested last year at his home near the capital, Guatemala City.

Prosecutors alleged that he was responsible for the capture and subsequent torture of Saenz between March and June 1981. Saenz remains missing to this day.

He also faces separate murder charges in connection with the 1980 burning of the Spanish embassy in Guatemala, in which 36 people died.

The dead included the father of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu.

An estimated 200,000 people were killed or went missing during Guatemala's 36-year civil war.

The conflict was fought between US-backed right-wing governments and left-wing rebels supported by indigenous people and the rural poor.

In March, former Guatemalan soldier Pedro Pimentel Rios was sentenced to 6,060 years in prison for his role in a massacre of 201 people in the village of Dos Erres in 1982.

A court in January ordered that Efrain Rios Montt, Guatemala's military leader from 1982-3, should face genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with massacres during his time in power.

Mexico replaces all federal police at key airport

Deutsche Welle, 20 august 2012

All 348 police officers assigned to Mexico City's international airport have been replaced after three officers were shot dead after confronting colleagues allegedly involved in drugs trafficking.

Regional federal police chief Luis Cardenas made the announcement on Sunday in Mexico City, saying the replacement officers had been brought in from around the country.

The new officers had also undergone psychological and drugs testing, he said, while the outgoing officers had been assigned posts in other Mexican states.

On June 25, three officers were killed by colleagues who were confronted over their alleged involvement in cocaine smuggling from South America on incoming airliners.

One suspected police officer is in custody, while two others are still on the run.

Drugs sneaked through airport controls

Cardenas said an investigation had learned that passengers on flights from South America would hide drugs in the restrooms of the Mexico City airport before going through customs, and officers in on the operation would then retrieve the drugs and sneak them out of the airport.

Drug-related killings have been a serious problem in Mexico for years. More than 50,000 people have died since an effort to use the military to crack down on drug cartels was implemented in 2006 by President Felipe Calderon.

mz/ipj (AFP, Reuters)

South American bloc adopts resolution on UK threats to Ecuador

RT.com, 20 August, 2012

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of (L-R) Peru, Rafael Roncagliolo, Ecuador,

 Ricardo Patino, Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and Colombia, Maria Angela

 Holguin, answer questions to the press after an extraordinary meeting of the 

Council of Ministers of UNASUR in Guayaquil, Ecuador on August 19, 2012

 (AFP Photo / Rodrigo Buendia)

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) has unanimously adopted a seven-point resolution supporting Ecuador’s right to grant Julian Assange asylum and condemning British threats to raid a sovereign state’s embassy in order to arrest him.

Foreign ministers of the 12-member bloc took part in an extraordinary meeting in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. A resolution was adopted just eight minutes after the session began, and was read out by Secretary General Ali Rodriguez.

Rodriguez' readout of the resolution was met with loud applause.

The document reaffirmed the sovereign right of any country to grant asylum and condemned threats to use force, stating that the bloc’s foreign ministers had taken into account the aide memoire Britain sent to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on the eve of the announcement of the decision on whether to grant Assange asylum.

The resolution reiterated “the inviolability of embassies” and the Vienna Convention, saying that principles of international law could not be overridden by domestic laws, such as the Diplomatic and Consular Act of 1987, which grants the British Secretary of State discretion to revoke immunity to ambassadorial premises.

The organization vowed to encourage all parties to the Assange case to continue dialogue to find a solution within the framework of international law. The importance of refuge and asylum for the protection of human rights was also reaffirmed by the South American foreign ministers.

After the session, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino addressed the press.

He noted that while the United Kingdom was a country far more powerful military-wise than Ecuador, the small Latin American country had the high ground in terms of its understanding of international law.

“Reason does not call for force,” Patino stated. “The force may be as different and as distant as a small country and a country which has atomic bombs. But here, reason is with us."

Patino thanked fellow Latin American nations for firmly supporting Quito on the issue and said he was pleased with the fact that Julian Assange knows that the region respects international law, the right to personal integrity and the freedom of expression.

He also said he waiting for a resolution expected to be adopted at a similar foreign-minister level meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), which is scheduled to meet next Friday.

Ecuador convened a number of regional meetings following the threat to storm the country’s embassy in London.

On Saturday, representatives of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) adopted a similar eight-point resolution condemning Britain for its “intimidating threats” to violate the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

On Friday, a special meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, which envelopes countries from North, Central and South America, votedto hold a meeting of the member states’ foreign ministers in order to discuss the same resolution filed by Ecuador.

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US war on whistleblowers must end - Assange

RT.com, 19 August, 2012

Assange makes first public statement since entering

 Ecuador’s London embassy

Julian Assange made his first public appearance in two months, ever since he took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Addressing the hundreds of people gathered outside the embassy, Assange thanked them for their support, claiming it was their resolve and presence that stopped British police storming the building.

"On Wednesday night, after a threat was sent to this embassy and police desceneded on this building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it, and you brought the worlds eyes with you. Inside this embassy after dark I could hear teams of police swarming up into the building through the internal fire escape," Assange said.

"But I knew thered be witnesses. And that was because of you."

The WikiLieaks founder thanked President Correa "for the courage he has shown" in granting him asylum, and to all the nations and individuals who have shown him support.

Assange also addressed the US government and President Obama, calling for the persecution of WikiLeaks supporters to end.

"The United States must pledge before the world will not pursue journalists for shining light on the secret crimes of the powerful. The US administration’s war against whistleblowers must end."

The WikiLeaks founder was granted political asylum on Thursday – a decision that ignited a wave of international responses, with the UK and Sweden opposing the verdict and Latin American countries strongly supporting Ecuador’s move.

Image from Twitter/@RTLondonBureau

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Pussy Riot trial tests Russia's Orthodox Church

Deutsche Welle, 16 August 2012

First prison, then compassion seems to be the Russian Orthodox Church's stance on Pussy Riot. But observers say that this might lead to many Russians turning their back on the church.

Russian Patriarch Kyrill presented his latest book in March in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. One of the key issues he focused on was the virtue of compassion. It's compassion for the members of punk band Pussy Riot that Russian human rights activists, artists, writers, musicians as well as Western celebrities like Sting, Madonna or Germany's Nina Hagen are now calling for. 

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina
 Samutsevich and Maria Alekhina face
prison time

The verdict for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich is expected to be announced Friday (17.08.2012). The prosecution accuses the three women, who have been held in custody for half a year, of hooliganism and incitement of religious hatred.

In February, the band had staged a "protest prayer" in Moscow's biggest church, the Cathedral of Christ the Savoir, just days ahead of the presidential elections that swept Vladimir Putin back into the president's office.

An Internet video shows a group of women in short dresses and wearing colorful balaclavas, dancing in front of the altar and shaking their fists. The video is accompanied by a punk prayer, a song calling on the Virgin Mary to chase Putin away.

Waning public support for harsh sentence  

Patriarch Kyrill described the
performance as "blasphemy"

The accused have described their performance as a political act. Ahead of the presidential poll, the Russian Orthodox Church had called upon people to vote for Putin. That's why, Pussy Riot members said, they wanted to protest against the close connection between the church and the Kremlin.

Over the course of the trial, a dwindling number of Russians expressed support for a harsh sentence for the three young women. Opinion polls in April had suggested that some 47 percent of the population were in support of a tough verdict, in June that number fell to 33 percent.

Many of the Orthodox believers, however, have insisted on a severe sentence, Natalia Sorkaja, from the pollsters Lewada which conducted the study, told DW. She said most Russians were well informed about the Pussy Riot trial and that the media was covering the case extensively.

Church demands punishment  

Pussy Riot staged their political protest
in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Since the trial began, Russia's Orthodox Church has been calling for a severe sentence. It does not seem prepared to easily forgive the three young women. Kyrill spoke of "blasphemy" and "satanic mockery."

"I know how much the soul of our people has been hurt," he said, adding that it was not a case the church could just brush over.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, in charge of matters of the relation between church and people at the Moscow patriarchy, agreed with Kyrill. He recently said it was only after the verdict had been pronounced, that one could consider compassion.

More to turn away from the church?

"The church wants to see a harsh punishment for Pussy Riot because they believe it will be a warning for other young people who want to protest against the church with similar political actions," Nikolay Mitrokhin, a Russia specialist at Bremen University, told DW. But he said he still is surprised by the strict position taken up by religious leaders.

"In the past, the church tried find a balance between the interests of the different groups in society. It tried to not get into an argument with the intelligentsia and the Moscow or Saint Petersburg middle class. But now it seems, the church is breaking those ties," he said, adding that as a result even more of the young urban class will turn away from the church.

"With this stance, the church will make even more people of those who reflect critically, turn away from it," Natalia Sorkaja agreed. She said she believes about 5 percent to 7 percent of Orthodox believers could turn their back on the church because they feel more connected to liberal and democratic values.

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Pussy Riot falls short of Russia's tradition of protest music

Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in jail

In pictures: Pussy Riot support around the world

Global Activists Gear Up For Pussy Riot Rallies

Pussy Riot trial: Putin urges leniency for Russia punks

Moscow Prosecutors Send Pussy Riot Case To Court For Trial

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.)

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?