Russian punk three-piece Pussy Riot have been convicted of hooliganism over an anti-Putin demonstration held in a Russian cathedral.
Pussy Riot
President Vladimir Putin’s opponents said the trial in Moscow was part of a wider crackdown by him to crush their protest movement.
Judge Marina Syrova convicted the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and passed a two year sentence, saying they had “crudely undermined social order”. Prosecutors had been seeking a three-year term for the three women, two have young children.
Many world music stars including Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney and Bjork had called for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24 and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, to be released but there has been a distinct lack of support from Russian stars.
In February, the balaclava-wearing trio had stormed the capital’s main cathedral and performed a “punk prayer” at the altar, asking the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of the then prime minister Mr Putin.
He was at the time only two weeks from winning a new term as Russian president.
The women said they were protesting against the close ties between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church and have spent the last five months being held in prison awaiting the trial.
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