Tuesday 24 December 2013

Pussy Riot pair released

The two members of Pussy Riot jailed for religious hooliganism, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, have been released under Russia's new amnesty law, with Alyokhina saying she was woken in the night and left at a Russian train station in her prison overalls and with no money. The were each sentenced to two years in prison after the band staged a provocative performance that criticised the Russian government and Vladimir Putin  in a Moscow cathedral in August 2012. The sentence was recently criticised by Russia’s Supreme Court although only three months of the sentence remains to be served. The court said that the prosecution in their case had failed to demonstrate that the three musicians charged were motivated by hatred towards one specific group, which is required in cases of this kind (see our separate update on this topic). The new law is being seen as an attempt to ease Western concerns about Russia’s human rights record, with the Winter Olympics in Sochi coming up early next year. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were unbowed, and used their sudden freedom to slam Mr. Putin, accusing him of using the Russian justice system to bolster his image before the Winter Olympics and insisting they did not want his mercy.

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