A Russian court is due to hear the appeal of jailed punk band Pussy Riot on Monday against a two-year sentence for performing an anti-Kremlin song in a Moscow cathedral.
The case against Pussy Riot highlighted the crackdown on freedom in Vladimir Putin‘s Russia and the rising power of the Russian Orthodox church.
The three women members of Pussy Riot – Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30 – are expected to attend the hearing at a Moscow city court. A decision is likely on Monday.
They were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” in mid-August in a case that drew condemnation from musicians and activists around the world. Most recently, Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi called for their release.
The three women were arrested in February after performing a “punk prayer” against Vladimir Putin at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.
A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox church said the court should take into account whether the women had “repented” before issuing its decision.
“The church sincerely desires remorse for the desecration of a holy place, convinced that it will benefit their souls,” a spokesman, Vladimir Legoida, said. “And since the point of punishment is correction, if the words of the tried will show evidence of remorse, and a rethinking of what they did, we would not want that to be ignored.”
During a speedy trial, the three women apologised for any offence they caused to believers but said they were committing a political act.
Their lawyers say they doubt the women’s sentence will be struck down, but believe it could be reduced. “To dream of the sentence being overthrown is too optimistic for the current Russian reality,” Nikolai Polozov, a lawyer for the women, said. “I very much hope it will be lessened a bit.”