Pussy Riot jailed for two years for hooliganism
As expected in Vladimir Putin's Russia, where any dissent must be crushed, members of the feminist punk band were sentenced to two years in prison, their "crime" amounting to antagonizing the Russian Orthodox Church and Putin himself. The trial, and now the verdict and sentencing, have sparked worldwide condemnation.
The video above is from a new single released by Pussy Riot today, and made into a video by The Guardian newspaper.
via BBC
Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
Judge Marina Syrova convicted the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, saying they had "crudely undermined social order".
The women say the protest, in February, was directed at the Russian Orthodox Church leader's support for Mr Putin.
The US, UK and EU all criticised the sentences as "disproportionate".
Prosecutors had been seeking a three-year jail sentence for the women.
Judge Syrova said Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, had offended the feelings of Orthodox believers and shown a "complete lack of respect".
"Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich committed hooliganism - in other words, a grave violation of public order," she said.
Along with other members of their band, the women staged a flashmob-style performance of their song close to the altar in the cathedral on 21 February.
Their brief, obscenity-laced performance, which implored the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out", enraged the Orthodox Church - its leader Patriarch Kirill said it amounted to blasphemy.
