RUSSIA: Petr Verzilov, husband of jailed Pussy Riot band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, arrives at Moscow City Court for the appeal hearing

Record ID: 261247

  • Title: RUSSIA: Petr Verzilov, husband of jailed Pussy Riot band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, arrives at Moscow City Court for the appeal hearing
  • Date: 3rd October 2012
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 1, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MOSCOW CITY COURT OFFICERS WALKING OUTSIDE COURT POLICE TRUCK PULLING INTO GARAGE, OFFICERS WALKING INTO GARAGE SATELLITE DISH IN FOREGROUND, COURTHOUSE IN BACKGROUND POLICE TRUCK DRIVING INTO COURTHOUSE PROPERTY NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA'S HUSBAND PETR VERZILOV ARRIVING TO COURT BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PYOTR VERZILOV, HUSBAND OF JAILED PUSSY RIOT BAND MEMBER NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA, SAYING: "We expect that today as a result of the cassation of Pussy Riot case there will either be no change to the verdict at all or only a very insignificant change will be made. Because we don't believe that despite Prime Minister Medvedev's and Orthodox church's words any significant changes will be made." CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PYOTR VERZILOV, HUSBAND OF JAILED PUSSY RIOT BAND MEMBER NADEZHDA TOLOKONNIKOVA, SAYING: "All of the girls are feeling well and high-spirited. I saw Nadia around a week ago. She had her first date with her daughter Gera who is four years old in six months. She looked rather good. All of the three women are holding up." CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PUSSY RIOT OPPONENT, SAYING: "In millions years of their existence people haven't invented anything better than God's commandments and only those proclaim the purest and brightest (things) of the world. There would be love, forgiveness, respect for parents, hard work - why are they against it?" ICON VERZILOV FOLLOWED BY JOURNALISTS INTO BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA6D5GWP6QOHGJWBVGTGZ6TFUYV
  • Story Text: Pyotr Verzilov, husband of jailed Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, arrived at Moscow City Court on Monday (October 1) for the punk protest group's appeal hearing, saying the women were "holding up".
    Pussy Riot supporters rallied outside the Moscow City Court on Monday morning to express their solidarity with the jailed punk band members and to demeans their release.
    Security was tight outside of Moscow City Court for the hearing in which band members hope to quash their two-year jail sentences for performing an anti-Kremlin song in Moscow's main cathedral.
    The three women - who belted out a "punk prayer" criticising President Vladimir Putin's close ties to the Russian Orthodox Church - were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" by a district court on Aug. 17.
    "We expect that today as a result of the cassation of Pussy Riot case there will either be no change to the verdict at all or only a very insignificant change will be made. Because we don't believe that despite Prime Minister Medvedev's and Orthodox church's words any significant changes will be made," Verzilov said on his way to the court building.
    "All of the girls are feeling well and high-spirited. I saw Nadia around a week ago. She had her first date with her daughter Gera who is four years old in six months. She looked rather good. All of the three women are holding up," Verzilov added.
    Russia received criticism for the tough jail sentences from Western governments as well as global celebrities including British musician Paul McCartney and U.S. pop singer Madonna.
    On the eve of the hearing the Russian Orthodox Church called for members of the Pussy Riot punk band to repent. A church statement after the August verdict indicated that the clergy would back a pardon or a reduced sentence, but that would have required Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, to admit their guilt, something their lawyers say they will not do.
    "In millions years of their existence, people haven't invented anything better than God's commandments and only those proclaim the purest and brightest (things) of the world. There would be love, forgiveness, respect for parents, hard work - why are they against it?" said a Pussy Riot opponent who was in front of the Court before the appeal.
    A recent official opinion poll showed that more than half of Russians are critical of what Pussy Riot did and consider their two-year jail sentence to be just.
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