 Pussy Riot said their protest was a political statement, but prosecutors said the band was trying to "incite religious hatred" against the Orthodox Church. In "Putin Zassal", Pussy Riot had stated "The Orthodox Religion is a hardened penis / Coercing its subjects to accept conformity", among other examples of the group's antagonism to the Church as an organization, which it views as corrupt. Thus central issues of the case were the definition of "hatred" against a religion, and whether blasphemy can exist in a secular state. Pavel Chikov, Chairman of the Agora Human Rights Association, said that defense lawyers were able to maximize publicity by creating "a huge public outcry over the case", but at the expense of defendants' liability.
