CBGB Joins Efforts to Support Russian Punk Band

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

The promoters of the CBGB music festival in New York say they plan to sell special T-shirts and other merchandise online to raise money for the jailed members of the Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot, who face a prison term for singing a protest song in a church.

“They gave a 30-second protest song that was nonviolent,” one of the promoters, Tim Hayes, said. “If we don't stand up for them, there will be many other cases that could follow.”

The efforts of Mr. Hayes and his partners, who bought the rights to the famous punk rock club last year and plan to reopen it, come as a global campaign to support the three jailed members of the all-female band is gaining steam. Protests have been held in a number of Western capitals.

On Thursday, Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, released a letter urging the women to “stay strong” and calling on the authorities to allow them the freedom to speak out against the government, The Associated Press reported. “I and many others like me who believe in free speech will do everything in our power to support you and the idea of artistic freedom,” Mr. McCartney said. Dozens of other prominent musicians have also voiced support for the women, among them Madonna and Bjork.

The band members â€" Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich â€" have been in jail for more than five months because they sang an anti-Putin song in Moscow's main cathedral. They face up to seven years in prison when a judge rules in their case on Friday.

Other New York supporters of the women plan to hold a reading on Thursday night at which actors and writers, including Chloë Sevigny, will read the women's courtroom statements and other pieces in support of their cause. The reading will take place at Liberty Hall at the Ace Hotel, 20 West 29th Street, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Earlier this w eek, the CBGB promoters made more than 200 T-shirts reading “Free Pussy Riot” and provided them to Amnesty International, which has been selling them online to raise cash for the effort to pressure the Russian government to release the band members.

A joint Amnesty International-CBGB letter of support for Pussy Riot has been signed by Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel and Anthony Bourdain, among others.

Mr. Hayes said the T-shirts and other merchandise would soon be available for sale on the CBGB Web site. All proceeds from sales of the shirts, above the $6 cost to make them, will be sent to the families of the three women, Mr. Hayes said. “We want to get their name out there to help keep the awareness up, and also to give money to their families,” he said.