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Russian prime minister says Pussy Riot three should be freed
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 13 September 2012
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for the three jailed members of punk band Pussy Riot to be freed, saying their continued incarceration is “unproductive”.
As previously reported, Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced to two years in jail after being convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for performing a protest song against Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.
Many reckoned that the conviction and sentencing, which was widely criticised by artist and free speech groups around the world, were politically motivated, and the three women are currently in the process of appealing the ruling.
Medvedev is clearly no fan of the Pussy Riot performers, saying that the band’s appearance and the “hysteria” accompanying them makes him sick, but in a televised meeting with members of his United Russia party he said he believed the three jailed members should now be given suspended sentences, and therefore let out of jail.
The PM said: “In my view, a suspended sentence would be sufficient, taking into account the time they have already spent in custody”.
Medvedev’s comments, as well as criticism of the sentencing from other Putin allies, including the country’s former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, has increased optimism amongst Pussy Riot supporters that the jailed members of the band could be freed in the next month.
