The video of Pussy Riot's anti-Putin performance inside a Russian cathedral in February-- which gained the group international notice, prison sentencings, and an outcry of global support-- has been banned in Russia.
A Moscow court ruled today that the video is "extremist" and must be removed from the internet, as the Associated Press reports (via Entertainment Weekly). According to the AP, the "extremism" law in Russia was set in place to "restrict neo-Nazi and terrorist groups." But some say the law is now being used by Putin and his supporters to silence their enemies.
Unless the ruling is appealed, internet providers in Russia will be required to block the video by next month, but the AP notes that web servers outside of Russia will keep the video accessible.
Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich, who was freed in October while two of her bandmates remain in prison camps, has already tried to appeal the ruling, noting, "This is clearly coming to the censorship of political art." But as the AP notes, "her appeal is unlikely to be heard since the judge had refused to consider her as a party in the case."
In related news, Rolling Stonereports that a documentary on the band, Pussy Riot -- A Punk Prayer, is heading to next year's Sundance Film Festival, which takes place in Utah from January 17-27. Directed by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, it follows the group's case from arrest to trial.
Revisit the clip of Pussy Riot's cathedral performance, which, in case you forgot, is fucking brilliant and very inspiring: