Madonna to face protests outside Russian show

Madonna to face protests outside Russian show

Madonna has angered conservative groups in Russia by supporting jailed punk stars Pussy Riot during her first concert.
The 53-year-old singer has jetted to Moscow as part of her ongoing MDNA tour and is again due to perform at the city’s Olimpiski Arena on August 14 night, reported Daily Express.
The protesters plan to demonstrate outside the singer’s Moscow concert and are calling on authorities to stop the star performing.
“It is not in our power to ban her, but we call on the authorities – who position themselves as Orthodox believers – to do so. This little singer is openly mocking our laws, our traditions and our culture,” said a spokesman for Russia’s Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers.
The three stars of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, are currently on trial on hooliganism charges.
The ‘Material Girl’ hitmaker voiced her support for the band by donnng a ski mask and scrawling the group’s name on her back during her performance recently.Russia`s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has termed pop star Madonna an “ex-wh***” over her backing of imprisoned punk rockers Pussy Riot, RIA Novosti reported.

“Every ex-wh*** tends to lecture. Especially during tours and concerts,” Rogozin wrote in his Twitter blog.

Madonna wore the group`s trademark balaclava and stripped to her bra to reveal the words “Pussy Riot” during a concert in Moscow Tuesday.

“I mean no disrespect to the church or the government, but I think that these three girls — Masha, Katya, Nadya — have done something courageous, have paid the price for their act, and I pray for their freedom,” the veteran pop diva told the audience.

Prosecutors have asked for three years for the three members of Pussy Riot, who were detained after performing a protest song calling on the Virgin Mary to “drive Putin out” in Moscow`s largest cathedral in February.

A 10-day trial ended Wednesday and the verdict will be announced Aug 17.

Madonna is among many cultural figures, both Russian and Western, who have called for Pussy Riot to be freed.

Madonna was also called a “foreign whore” by prominent Russian Orthodox Church theologian, Archdeacon Andrei Kurayev, in 2008 ahead of a concert in Moscow.

Kurayev defended the use of the word by saying it comes from Church Slavonic and is often used in liturgical texts. “The primary meaning of the word is `to err`,” he said.

Madonna, during a concert Thursday in St. Petersburg, has pledged to speak out against a ban on “gay propaganda” imposed by the city.