Pussy Riot stars Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina have been filmed getting buried alive while wearing official Russian riot cops' uniforms in a promo for a protest song about police brutality.
The singers were jailed for two years in 2012 for staging an anti-Vladimir Putin demonstration at a church in Moscow and were later assaulted by Russian security forces during an impromptu show near the Winter Olympics in Sochi last year following their release.
Now they have taken revenge on their tormentors in a promo clip to accompany their protest song, which was sparked by the death of Eric Garner following his arrest in New York City last year.
The pair don the combat-style boots-and-overalls uniform of the Russian riot police - Otryad Mobilny Osobogo Naznacheniya - complete with official 'OMON' logo, and lie down in a pit as soil is slowly shovelled on to them.
They are eventually buried alive in the four-and-a-half minute video for the song, which is titled 'I Can't Breathe' and was inspired by Garner's death last year after he was placed in a chokehold during an arrest in the Big Apple.
Referencing the incident, which sparked protests on the streets of New York, the track contains the lyrics "I need to catch my breath" and "It's getting dark, New York City" before a male vocalist interjects with several quotes taken from film footage of Garner's arrest, including "You're harassing me", "I'm minding my business, officer", and "Please just leave me alone".
In a statement, Tolokonnikova and Alekhina tell NME.com, "To Eric Garner and to all who suffer from state terror - killed, choked, perished because of war and police violence - to political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change. We all have to protest for those who are silent, and we have to protest for each other, no matter the geography, no matter the borders.
"'I can't breathe' - these are the last words of Eric Garner. Those words are his, but we hope they can also stand for us and for many around the world, for all who can't breathe because authorities act with impunity and feel invincible and above the law in using power to humiliate, intimidate, hurt, kill and oppress. We've known, on our own skin, what police brutality feels like and we can't be silent on this issue."
WENN.com
source: newshub archive
