Police detained several protesters outside a Moscow court on Wednesday during a hearing for three members of the all-female punk group Pussy Riot, who could face lengthy jail sentences over an anti-Putin protest in Moscow’s largest cathedral.
At least 12 people were arrested as they blew whistles in protest.
The court is deciding whether to keep the women in custody ahead of their trial, on an as yet unknown date.
It is likely to prolong custody for a month, the band’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, told RIA Novosti.
Around 200 people gathered outside the court building to demand freedom for the suspects, who were detained in early and mid-March. Several supporters of the Russian Orthodox Church staged a simultaneous counter-protest.
Suspects Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich face up to seven years in jail on hooliganism charges. They have been remanded in custody until June 24.
Five masked members of Pussy Riot, clad in brightly-colored balaclavas, bowed and crossed themselves as they sang an acapella version of a song entitled “Holy Sh*t” at the cathedral in February. The lyrics included lines such as “Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin, chase Putin out!”
Pussy Riot said the performance was a response to Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill’s backing of President-elect Vladimir Putin in the run-up to his landslide March 4 election victory. The patriarch called the 12 years of Putin’s rule a “miracle of God” in a televised meeting.
Amnesty International recognized the suspects as prisoners of conscience in April, and a number of political and Orthodox Church figures have called for their release.