Pussy Riot Members May Run for Office

Newly freed pair also match wits with Colbert
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 5, 2014 3:24 PM CST
Pussy Riot Members May Run for Office
Members of Pussy Riot Maria “Masha” Alyokhina, left, and Nadezhda “Nadya” Tolokonnikova hold a news conference at Amnesty International's New York headquarters on Tuesday.   (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Two newly released members of Pussy Riot tell the New York Times that they're kicking around the idea of running for political office in Russia. Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, currently visiting the US as part of an international tour, also made clear that they have no intentions of tamping down their outspoken ways. “This is certainly not the time for us to be afraid," says Tolokonnikova. "The situation in Russia has gotten so much worse. And if we couldn’t keep quiet about it then, then we certainly won’t keep quiet about it now."

Alyokhina adds that the support they received from around the world made them feel free even while imprisoned. “In light of that, it’s kind of silly to talk about having to go through that a second time as something that would instill fear in us.” The interview is fairly routine stuff, but not-so-routine was their visit to the Colbert Report, where Stephen Colbert "met his quick-witted match," observes Mediaite. Sample response when asked about Vladimir Putin: "We have different ideas about a bright future, and we don't want a shirtless man on a horse leading us" into that future. Watch it here. (More Pussy Riot stories.)

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