Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                    Russian Court Releases Pussy Riot Member

   by VOA News

   A Russian appeals court has freed one of the members of the all-female
   punk band Pussy Riot, but has upheld a jail sentence for two others for
   an unsanctioned protest at a Moscow cathedral.
   The judge at the Moscow city court issued a suspended sentence for
   Yekaterina Samutsevich, saying she was thrown out of the cathedral by
   guards before she could take part in the performance.  But he upheld
   the two-year prison camp sentences of Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda
   Tolokonnikova.
   All three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by
   religious hatred.  They argued in court on Wednesday their impromptu
   performance was political in nature and not an attack on  religion.
   The trio was arrested on the altar of Russia's most prominent Orthodox
   cathedral in January, after they called on the Virgin Mary to deliver
   them from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
   Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that he thought the
   punishment was very strict.  But President Vladimir Putin recently said
   that the court ruling was correct.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/russian-court-releases-pussy-riot-mem
   ber/1523761.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/russian-court-releases-pussy-riot-member/1523761.html