One Pussy Riot Member Released From Prison
A Moscow appeals court judge today (October 10) nullified the two-year prison sentence for Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich, but has upheld the sentences for the two other imprisoned members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Samutsevich’s new lawyer (she fired her attorney earlier this month, which delayed the appeal hearing) argued that her client didn’t actually participate in the February anti-Putin demonstration, saying she was caught after donning her balaclava and guitar but before she actually got to take part in the song. Seems like a flimsy defense in a case that already heavily favored the state, but it was confirmed by a video of the incident and witness testimony.
The other two imprisoned members of Pussy Riot plan to continue the appeals process, perhaps by going all the way to the European Human Rights Court. The women of the feminist punk collective were sentenced to two years behind bars for staging an anti-Putin “punk prayer” at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral in February.
[via THR]
