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                   Amnestied Members of Pussy Riot Speak Out

   by Jessica Golloher

   The two members of Russia's all-female punk rock band Pussy Riot, who
   were granted amnesty last week, are lashing out at Russian President
   Vladimir Putin.
   At a press conference Friday, newly released band members Maria
   Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolikonnikova immediately launched into sharp
   criticism of Russia's strong-arm leader.
   Tolikonnikova says this week's release was a public relations stunt
   ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi -- a pet project of Russian
   President Vladimir Putin's.  She also encouraged others to boycott the
   games.
   Alyokhina criticized Putin's relationship with the powerful Russian
   Orthodox Church, saying that it played a role in their conviction
    in 2012.
    The two were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.
   On the altar of the country's most prominent Orthodox Cathedral, they
   called on the Virgin Mary to deliver Russia from Putin.  They were each
   sentenced to two years in prison.
   Tolokonnikova says the two will not let their time behind bars deter
   them from working for an improved civil society. They say they want to
   use their experiences to help others who are behind bars by working to
   reform Russia's notoriously bad prison system.
   She says the band members' ultimate goal is solidarity, a developed
   civil society and the ability to help one another. She says the band
   saw the need for reform while in prison and considers their experiences
   as a "real miracle," and they are very grateful to all those who
   supported them.
   Tolokonnikova went on to say that it would be great if former oil
   tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky -- who was pardoned and released just days
   before the women -- would work with them to try and fix the system.
   She says the band members consider Khodorkovsky an important and very
   strong person with an unbelievable personality. She noted that his
   prison experience was much longer and much tougher than theirs. She
   explains that the sort of cooperation she is talking about would be
   mainly conceptual, focusing on an exchange of ideas.
   This month's wave of Russian prisoner releases has also included a
   number of Greenpeace activists arrested over an Arctic protest action.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/amnestied-pussy-riot-members-speak-out/1818827.html