Moscow court frees one Pussy Riot member

October 10, 2012 05:09 pm | Updated December 04, 2021 11:41 pm IST - MOSCOW

Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, centre, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, on Wednesday. Moscow appeals court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich of jailed band Pussy Riot but upheld a prison sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina. Photo: AP

Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, centre, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, on Wednesday. Moscow appeals court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich of jailed band Pussy Riot but upheld a prison sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina. Photo: AP

A Moscow appeals court has freed one of the jailed Pussy Riot members but upheld the two-year prison sentence for the two others.

All three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for an ‘irreverent protest’ against President Vladimir Putin.

They argued in court on Wednesday that their impromptu performance inside Moscow’s main cathedral in February was political in nature and not an attack on religion.

The judge ruled that Yekaterina Samutsevich’s sentence should be suspended because she was thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could take part in the performance.

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