Maria Alyokhina doesn't speak fluent English, but she knew the word was wrong as soon as it left her translator's mouth. The now world-renowned activist and member of Pussy Riot leaned over to the translator and in a thick Russian accent corrected him — "Bullshit."
"I'm sorry, I should call them bullshit," the translator said with a smile. "In correct translation." He had originally referred to laws enacted by Russian President Vladimir Putin as "absurdity," before Alyokhina corrected him.
Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, 24, joined Alyokhina, 25, on the bandmates' first visit to the U.S. since their release from Russian prison in December. The two members of the Russian punk band turned activist group spoke to reporters at Amnesty International's Manhattan headquarters Tuesday evening, a day ahead of their scheduled appearance at an Amnesty-hosted "Bringing Human Rights Home" concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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With Tolokonnikova's husband Pyotr Verzilov as their interpreter, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova discussed their plans to bring attention to what they see as human rights abuses in Russia, just weeks ahead of the start of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
"The media is an important weapon for activists in today's Russia," Tolokonnikova said, which is why the pair embarked on a speaking tour last week. The tour, which took them first to Amsterdam and then New York, has been an outlet for the women to discuss what they see as Russian governmental censorship of free speech, mistreatment of prisoners and corruption by the government in preparation for the Olympics.
They said their plans to oppose these abuses include starting a human rights group called Zona Prava or the "Zone of Rights" and joining with Amnesty International to gather signatures for a petition to send to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"In this petition, there's a call to cancel all of the absurdity that was written under the cover of the law in the last one-and-a-half years in Russia" since Putin had again become president, Verzilov initially translated, before Alyokhina instructed him to replace "absurdity" with the stronger term.
As an example of one of these laws, Tolokonnikova pointed to the prohibition against "insulting of the feelings of religious believers," saying authorities use laws like this to enforce a "wide crackdown" on free speech. Both Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina served 21 months in prison after their March 2012 arrest for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred," for an anti-Putin protest performance in Moscow's main cathedral.
In addition to arresting protesters, the Pussy Riot members discussed the Russian government's recent attempt to censor detractors on the Internet.
"Because free thought, right now, migrates to the Internet, the state has set out to control its activity," Tolokonnikova said. "They've started to create blacklists of bloggers and Internet sites and try to restrict and control what is happening on the Internet as well."
The two activists will likely have a larger New York audience on Wednesday. They are scheduled to speak at a concert featuring performances by Imagine Dragons, the Flaming Lips, the Fray, Ms. Lauryn Hill and more. Madonna is set introduce Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina to the arena crowd.
"I am honored to introduce my fellow freedom fighters Masha and Nadya from Pussy Riot," Madonna said in a recent statement. "I have admired their courage and have long supported their commitment and the sacrifices they have made in the name of freedom of expression and human rights."
Asked what one question they would pose if they came face-to-face with Putin, Tolokonnikova responded, "Aren't you sick of it all?"
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