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Russian prosecutor seeks 3-year jail terms for Pussy Riot trio

World News

07-08-2012 | 05:01

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Russian prosecutor seeks 3-year jail terms for Pussy Riot trio

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A Russian state prosecutor asked a Moscow court on Tuesday to impose three-year jail sentences on three women from the Pussy Riot punk band who performed a "punk prayer" in a church.

"The actions of the accomplices clearly show religious hatred and enmity," state prosecutor Alexei Nikiforov said in closing arguments. "Using swear words in a church is an abuse of God."

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, could have faced a maximum sentence of seven years for storming the altar of Moscow's main cathedral on Feb. 21 and belting out a "punk prayer" calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin, who is now president.

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk-rock collective that stages politically provocative impromptu performances in Moscow, on subjects such as the status of women in Russia, and, most recently, against the election campaign of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for president of Russia.

In March 2012, three women from the band were arrested and charged with hooliganism; their trial began in late July. The women have attracted considerable sympathy both within Russia and internationally, due to allegations of harsh treatment while they have been in custody, and the threat of a possible seven year jail sentence. The trial has been compared by some foreign observers to a show trial.

REUTERS/LBCI

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