A Russian appeals court Wednesday ordered the release of one member of anti-Vladimir Putin punk band Pussy Riot after giving her a suspended term but ordered two others serve two years in a prison camp.
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, were contesting their conviction for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over performing a song opposing Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral in February.
The judge at the Moscow city court ordered the release of Samutsevich, 30, after giving her a two-year suspended prison camp term. However, the two-year prison camp sentences of Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were upheld. The release of Samutsevich was a major surprise but came after she announced she was changing her lawyer.
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, were contesting their conviction for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over performing a song opposing Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral in February.
The judge at the Moscow city court ordered the release of Samutsevich, 30, after giving her a two-year suspended prison camp term. However, the two-year prison camp sentences of Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were upheld. The release of Samutsevich was a major surprise but came after she announced she was changing her lawyer.