Exiled punk band says its members are proud to be branded ‘extremists’ and hits back at Putin as an ‘aging sociopath’.A Moscow district court has designated Russian punk protest band Pussy Riot as an extremist organisation, according to the state TASS news agency.The exiled group’s lawyer, Leonid Solovyov, told TASS that Monday’s court ruling was made in response to claims brought by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and that the band plans to appeal. According to TASS, the case was heard in a closed session at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe court said that it had upheld prosecution submissions “to recognise the punk band Pussy Riot as an extremist organisation and ban its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation”, the AFP news agency reports.An official Pussy Riot social media account shared a statement, responding defiantly to the ruling, saying the band’s members, who have lived in exile for years, were “freer than those who try to silence us”.“We can say what I think about putin — that he is an aging sociopath spreading his venom around the world like cancer,” the statement said.“In today’s Russia, telling the truth is extremism. So be it – we’re proud extremists, then.”The group’s designation will make it easier for the authorities to go after the band’s supporters in Russia or people who have worked with them in the past.“This court order is designed to erase th …
