- Title: RUSSIA: Trial of Pussy Riot punk group starts in Moscow
- Date: 20th July 2012
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 20, 2012) (REUTERS) STREET NEAR COURT BUILDING CORDONED OFF BY POLICE VARIOUS OF QUEUE TO ENTER COURT BUILDING TWO POLICEMEN WALKING ON CORDONED OFF STREET PEOPLE IN FRONT OF POLICE BARRIER POLICEMEN IN FLACK JACKETS NEAR BARRIER POLICE TRUCK NEAR COURT BUILDING POLICEMEN TALKING NEAR POLICE BUS POLICE TRUCK BEHIND METAL FENCE PROTESTER AGAINST PUSSY R
- Embargoed: 4th August 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Crime,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA22OXJ2AE92WF92F3TYLOU2AVU
- Story Text: Security was high at the Moscow court house where a trial for three members of anti-Putin punk band Pussy Riot began on Friday (July 20).
The case, which has garnered domestic and media attention, centres on a trio of rockers - Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich - who face up to seven years in jail for hooliganism after storming the altar of the Christ the Saviour Cathedral on February 21 in short dresses and colorful face masks to sing a "punk prayer" that offended some Russian Orthodox believers.
Their rendition of "Holy Mother, hush Putin away!" was a protest against the close relationship between the Church and then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whom it backed in the presidential election he won in March.
The act was part of a protest movement against Putin's 12-year dominance that at its peak saw 100,000 people take part in winter street protests in Moscow. Their arrest has drawn widespread outrage among activists and human rights groups.
Amnesty International urged Russia in April to free the women, criticizing the severity of the response by authorities.
The Church's support for Putin, whose rule has been described by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church as a "miracle of God", has angered many members of the anti-Putin protest movement that has sprung up in the past seven months.
But some Orthodox believers have called for tough punishment for the women over an act they regard as blasphemous.
"We are for morality. We are for our kids not seeing such horror - neither on the Internet nor in public places, nor of course in the Christ the Saviour cathedral," said anti-Pussy Riot protester Ivan Dyachenko standing outside the court house.
Defense lawyers for the jailed women see the case as political.
Last month a judge extended the punk band members hearing after prosecutors argued they should be kept behind bars to prevent them fleeing abroad or planning another performance.
The girls, who have scorned Vladimir Putin publically with their music, were denied bail despite calls for their release by hundreds of supporters at the hearing in June. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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