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Pussy Riot joins calls to boycott Sochi Winter Olympics over Russia's anti-gay laws

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ANI London
Last Updated : Oct 17 2013 | 3:10 PM IST

Feminist Russian punk band Pussy Riot has joined calls to boycott next year's Winter Olympics in Russia over the country's notorious 'anti-gay propaganda' legislation.

Ekaterina Samutsevich, one of the three members of the feminist punk collective sentenced to imprisonment over a previous protest, said that boycotting Sochi 2014 is the only option to oppose the draconian laws.

According to the Independent, Samutsevich also claimed that high-profile Russian athletes such as Yelena Isinbayeva were coming under pressure to 'adopt anti-gay views'.

Isinbayeva defended the law during this summer's world championships in Moscow.

Samutsevich has joined Stephen Fry and a number of athletes in calling for a boycott of the Games, although no country has so far supported the move.

President Vladimir Putin issued a law in August that banned protest rallies and demonstrations in Sochi throughout the period of the Winter Olympics, the report said.

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In an interview with the BBC, Samutsevich said it was impossible for Russian athletes to mount any sort of protest as they would lose their livelihood.

She said that the Olympics was a source of national pride. But what is happening now, it is right-wing fascism.

She added that this is what the Olympics are turning into and even sports people are being pressured into adopting these views. Rather than celebrating about sporting achievement it becomes about propagating these views, the report added.

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First Published: Oct 17 2013 | 3:06 PM IST

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