A Moscow court on Friday (17 August) sentenced three young women from the Pussy Riot band to two years in jail for their "punk prayer" - a protest song performed in a cathedral and criticising President Vladimir Putin.
The verdict came in a packed room where the women, all in their 20s, sat smiling in a glass cage and showing their handcuffs to a crush of TV crews in perhaps most highly mediatised Russian trial since that of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The ruling - gu...
Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a member for as low as €1,75 per week.
Already a member? Login