Putin calls for leniency in Pussy Riot case
Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes a judge will show leniency in the trial of feminist punk band Pussy Riot, The Guardian reports.
Speaking to reporters during a one-day trip to London on Thursday (August 2), Putin criticized the band for performing a "punk prayer" protest outside Moscow's Christ the Saviour cathedral in February, but added they should not be judged too harshly.
"There is nothing good in this," he said. "I wouldn't really like to comment, but I think if the girls were, let's say, in Israel, and insulted something in Israel... it wouldn't be so easy for them to leave."
If they "desecrated some Muslim holy site, we wouldn't even have had time to detain them," he continued. "Nonetheless, I don't think they should be judged too severely for this... But the final decision rests with the courts – I hope the court will deliver a correct, well-founded ruling."
Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich (pictured) could face up to seven years behind bars if convicted of charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. They have argued their performance was in protest of the church's pro-Putin stance during the recent presidential election campaign, which resulted in Putin winning the Russian presidency for the third time.
Earlier this week, a group of musicians including Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, The Who's Pete Townshend, Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant and singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright penned a newspaper op-ed in support of the band and their democratic right to a dissenting opinion.
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Kevin Ritchie
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