Mihkelson on Russia: Lack of Freedom Causes Acts of Desperation
Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson said that the choice of a house of worship by Russian punk group Pussy Riot for their act of political protest is a sign of desperation by those deprived of their freedom of speech.
Mihkelson told uudised.err.ee that he understood and wholeheartedly supported Archbishop Andres Põder's point of view in the matters of respecting religion and basics of national identity, but still felt that the letter addressed to the Russian authorities and Parliament, signed by himself and eight other MPs and calling for acquittal of the band's arrested members, was justified.
On Monday, Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Andres Põder called it "bewildering and alarming" that members of Parliament were lending public support to the punk group's barbarian attack against the Russian Orthodox Church.
"Regrettably the situation with freedom of speech in Russia, which is a member country of the Council of Europe and has subscribed to the principles of the rule of law, is so critical that people are forced to take extreme steps," Mihkelson said.
Mihkelson said that reverence to religion and traditions could not be sustained where freedom of speech was missing. "I supported the address in a belief that Russia could be a better state for its citizens if it respected their freedom of opinion and set free prisoners of conscience. That would surely put an end to steps and actions that may go against accepted behavior."
Erkki Sivonen