Global outrage and tension grows after trio are jailed for flash mob performance in Moscow cathedral
Three members of a feminist punk band were today convicted for hooliganism after staging an anti-Kremlin protest in a cathedral.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, stormed Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral in February and sang a ‘punk prayer’ urging the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.
The women from the Pussy Riot group were jailed for two years, after the judge ruled that their protest had been based on “motives of religious hatred and enmity”.
Both Vladimir Putin’s political opponents and the United States have voiced concerns about the case being politically motivated.
“Our imprisonment serves as a clear and unambiguous sign that freedom is being taken away from the entire country,” said Tolokonnikova in a letter posted on the internet.
Protests have been held around the world in support of the band members, and a long list of celebrities have backed their cause.
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