EXCLUSIVE: Pussy Riot are coming to Cambridge

Everybody keep calm. I am just excited as you are, but I need to concentrate and write this article without fan-girling all over my screen. Inhale. Now type.

On November 15th, the Pussy Riot girls – Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina – are coming to Cambridge.

If you aren’t familiar with their work, Pussy Riot was a feminist protest art collective which, in February 2012, performed an expletive song in opposition to Vladimir Putin.

After a highly controversial trial, three of the group’s members (Nadya, Masha and Katya) were sentenced to two years imprisonment – sparking international outrage.

On being released from their prison sentences last year, Tolokonnikova and Alekhina went on to launch their own human rights projects: an NGO called Zona Prava (Zone of Rights) and an independent news service, MediaZona (think this one speaks for itself).

In a speaking event organised by the Union, the girls – along with Nadya’s husband Petya Verzilov – will talk Putin, prisons and MediaZona.

MediaZona aims to focus on the Russian courts, law enforcement and the prison system. Tolokonnikova has said that the group plans to combat the Kremlin’s notoriously iron grip on the Russian media.

Speaking to The Tab, Verzilov was able to confirm that the group plan to be in the UK from mid-November, presenting Tolokonnikova’s new book in Foyles book store in London, followed by a speech in Parliament.

The announcement of the event has caused a great amount of excitement within the student community.

Joss Meakins, a Russian finalist, called it “an unmissable opportunity to meet with the vanguard of opposition to Putin’s Russia – some of the most fearless civic protestors of the age.”

CUSU Women’s officer, Amelia Horgan said: “This is very exciting news, especially for an institution that tends to invite old, white men.”

Union President, Tim Squirrell told us he was very proud of his team’s work in getting Pussy Riot to speak.

He said: “This event is precisely in line with the goals of the Union – promoting free speech and debate, and giving a platform to unique and interesting individuals.”

I think I speak for everyone when I say this, but I can’t fucking wait.