- Title: RUSSIA: Russian chess player Kasparov among arrested ahead of Pussy Riot verdict.
- Date: 17th August 2012
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 17, 2012) (REUTERS) CROWD OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE RUSSIAN CHESS PLAYER GARY KASPAROV AMONG CROWD VARIOUS OF KASPAROV TALKING TO JOURNALISTS POLICE POLICEMEN ARRESTING KASPAROV, DRAGGING HIM TO POLICE BUS WHILE KASPAROV SHOUTS IN RUSSIAN 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU ARRESTING ME?' POLICE ARRESTING WOMAN POLICE STANDING POLICE DRAGGING ARRESTED WOMAN TO POLICE BUS CROWD BEHIND METAL BARRIERS POLICE DRAGGING ARRESTED MAN AND BRINGING ARRESTED WOMAN TO POLICE BUS POLICE AND POLICE BUSES OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE
- Embargoed: 1st September 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Crime,Arts,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9VPZMI7YI972864KX25GWPE20
- Story Text: Russian chess player and opposition activist Gary Kasparov is among arrested outside the Moscow courthouse where the Pussy Riot verdict is being read out.
Russian police detained chess player and opposition activist Gary Kasparov on Friday (August 17) outside a Moscow courthouse where the verdict for anti-Putin punk band Pussy Riot is being read out.
Kasparov was among the hundreds of protesters who gathered in central Moscow near the court house to show support for Pussy Riot. He was among dozens who were detained and dragged to near by police busses.
State prosecutors want the women from the Pussy Riot group jailed for three years over the protest in February in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, but the judge did not immediately issue a sentence as she read out the long verdict.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, stormed the altar of Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral in February wearing bright ski masks, tights and short skirts and sang a "punk prayer" urging the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.
Though few Russians have much sympathy for the women, Putin's opponents portray the trial as part of a wider crackdown by the former KGB spy to crush their protest movement. Foreign stars led by Madonna - who performed in Moscow with "PUSSY RIOT" painted on her back - have campaigned for the trio's release, and Washington says the case is politically motivated. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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