This is what burying free speech looks like

A number of readers have asked about the group called Pussy Riot.  Well, they are young women, feminists, rock musicians, performance artists, and activists for free expression.  Their satire-filled performances have been called "bigoted" and "hateful" by pundits in the pay of the establishment.

Pussy Riot's first song in English is dedicated to Eric Garner and the words he repeated eleven times before his death. This song is for Eric and for all those from Russia to America and around the globe who suffer from state terror - killed, choked, perished because of war and state sponsored violence of all kinds - for political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change.

The authorities have tried to suppress their controversial way of voicing their opinions.  These young women have been beaten in public for trying to exercise free speech.

Russian punk group Pussy Riot is attacked by Cossack militia as they try to perform under a sign for the Sochi Olympics. Cossack militia attacked the Pussy Riot punk group with horsewhips on Wednesday as the group staged an impromptu performance under a sign advertising the Sochi Olympics.

They were arrested on charges of "hate speech".

Put on trial...

And imprisoned for nearly two years for expressing their opinions.

While in prison, Amnesty International claims they suffered abuse at the hands of prison officials and inmates.

In 2014, two members of the group -- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina won the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought.  The prize is named after philosopher Hannah Arendt, author of numerous books (some quite controversial in their day), including The Origins of Totalitarianism, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, and A Life of the Mind.