Two members of the Russian punk rock band turned activist group Pussy Riot have applied for asylum in Sweden claiming that it is too dangerous for them to return to their native Russia.
Lusine Janjan and Alexei Knedljakowski now live in an asylum home in Stockholm and say they have been living in the centre for the last 10 months with their infant son, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
“We do not have to be constantly afraid here,” Knedljakowski said and the couple added that they were hoping to hear a decision from the Swedish Migration Board regarding their asylum claim soon. Knedljakowski is notable as being one of the few male members of the feminist group.
Lusine Djanyan, a visual artist who has exhibitions showcasing her work in London and Milan, is not allowed to attend her own art shows in case it negatively impacts her asylum claim.
“Certainly, we have paid a high price for our art, but I regret nothing,” Djanyan said.
Many have debated the value of the “art” of Pussy Riot which has included various stunts including, while they were members of a group named Voina, filming themselves entering a supermarket and putting a raw chicken in one member’s vagina to steal it in 2010.
The group are best known for their 2012 stunt in which they barged into the Christ the Savior Cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, and performed a “protest song” against Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The group were later put on trial for hooliganism and convicted in August with Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich being sentenced to two years in prison. Days later, two of the convicted members fled the country to escape being sent to prison.
Since then, the group has been celebrated by many including former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who posed with members and said it was “great to meet the strong & brave young women from #PussyRiot, who refuse to let their voices be silenced in #Russia” on her Twitter account in 2014.
Pussy Riot also attempted to extend their “critique” to U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016 during the presidential campaign by releasing a profanity-laden video called “Make America Great Again.”
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