Pussy Riot members Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova statement in support of Barrett Brown

Last year, Center for Rights and Fight for the Future helped thousands take action to call for the release of Barrett Brown, a citizen journalist and transparency activist whose trumped up charges set a chilling precedent for freedom of speech.

Here’s a link to our petition: http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/barrett-brown/

Please see below a statement directly from FreeBarrettBrown.org

<3 Fight for the Future

Today we have a tremendous support statement from Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, the Russian dissidents known as Pussy Riot. Here’s what they had to say about Barrett:

“In Russia, where we live, the rights of journalists carry very little weight and people who aspire for a free press have much envy for the conditions in which media in the West usually functions. But cases that attack whistleblowers, journalists and activists allow Russian propaganda to point to foreign countries and say that “freedom of press” there similarly comes with the prosecution of journalists. Barrett’s case is one that should not be happening in a Western democracy and we hope that American authorities will not continue to set such a horrible example by giving Barrett any more time behind bars.“

In addition, The Voice Project and its executive director Hunter Heaney have signed on to the campaign to free Barrett Brown.

Without having heard from him, we suspect that Barrett is still being held in segregation since a June 17 "semi-disturbance” at Seagoville, which he wrote about in his last column. Many members of the public have been expressing their concerns to the Bureau of Prisons. There’s no word yet on when he will be released back to the regular population. Since he didn’t do anything wrong and his behavioral record has been otherwise spotless, it’s doubtful that he will be charged with an infraction following any disciplinary hearing. It’s so hot in the hole that inmates strip to their underwear during the day — this is why the Texas Civil Rights Project is suing over the lack of air-conditioning in Texas state prisons.

If you’re attending the HOPE X (Hackers on Planet Earth) conference in NYC July 18-20, there will be two panels related to Barrett Brown. On Friday at noon, Brown’s attorney Ahmed Ghappour, Anonymous expert Gabriella Coleman, and FreeBB director Kevin Gallagher will discuss his case and other matters. Then on Saturday at 4PM, a group of journalists and researchers will gather to talk about the importance of Project PM and crowd-sourced research of the cyber-intelligence complex, which was founded and pioneered by Barrett.

We hope to see you there, and at Barrett’s sentencing, which will occur October 6th, 2014 at 1:30 PM CST at the federal courthouse on 1100 Commerce St. in Dallas, TX.

If you’re wondering what Barrett is still charged with and what he’s facing, there’s a wiki page with a detailed case timeline and the current case disposition (all with references to source documents, as well as an accurate biography and links to important writings). As always, media and press inquiries are welcome.

Thank you for supporting us.
Free Barrett Brown