Russian official: West knows too little about Pussy Riot case

Moscow - Wide-scale condemnation in the West of last month's conviction of three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot for a performance in Moscow's main Orthodox cathedral is the result of alleged lack of information, a senior Russian official has claimed. 

"Abroad, there has been an absolutely homogeneous reaction to this situation - practically the entire foreign public opinion condemns the way it happened in Russia. One wonders why. Are they more convinced of something or more primitive? No, they aren't. They are just very poorly informed about the essence of what is happening, unlike anyone who is watching this process here in Russia, even the laziest of people," Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Abroad and International Cultural Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), told the Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio.

"Abroad, this affair is put into two or three theses. There are some bold young women who are embodiments of free thinking, they have dared criticize the president of the country and have been thrown into jail for this. That's it. That's exactly the way this situation is seen abroad," he said.

"I don't think it's the task of Rossotrudnichestvo to soft-pedal this affair. The task of Rossotrudnichestvo is bring comprehensive information about this affair to all those who are interested so that people draw their own conclusions," Kosachyov said.