August 21, 2012

Russian Police Hunt For More Members of Pussy Riot.

*Source: The Guardian

Following sentencing of three women from the all-female group, authorities confirm 'search operations are being conducted'.

Pussy Riot: hooded protesters in Zurich
Hooded protesters in Zurich join the international outcry over the jailing of three members of Pussy Riot. Photograph: Alessandro Della Bella/EPA


Russian police are searching for more members of Pussy Riot, a spokeswoman said, signalling further pressure on the punk rock band despite an international outcry over jail terms for three women who protested against Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president's critics have condemned the court proceeding that yielded the two-year prison sentences on Friday as part of a clampdown on a protest movement and reminiscent of show trials of dissidents in the Soviet era.

Police said on Monday they were searching for other members of the group in connection with the protest at Moscow's Christ the Saviour cathedral in February, but had not yet identified the suspects.

Police did not say how many people they were looking for, or whether they faced arrest and charges or were wanted merely for questioning. "The necessary search operations are being conducted," a representative of the Moscow police told Interfax news agency.

A police spokeswoman in Moscow's central district confirmed that other, unidentified members of Pussy Riot were being sought in a criminal case that was now separate from that against the three performers who were tried.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over their performance of a "punk prayer" urging the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin.

The three wore masks to conceal their identity but were arrested after the protest. Two others who took part remain at large and the group has said it plans further demonstrations against Putin.

In an interview last week, other members of Pussy Riot, their faces hidden behind colourful ski masks, said the trial had only strengthened their resolve.

The European Union and a number of countries have called the sentences disproportionate, and the United States has urged the Russian authorities to review the case.

Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Samutsevich said they had sought to protest against Putin's close ties with the Russian Orthodox church and had not set out to offend believers.

Putin himself, who returned to the presidency for a third term on 7 May after a four-year spell as prime minister, said before the sentencing that the women did "nothing good" but should not be judged too harshly.

They have already been in jail for about five months, meaning they will serve another 19, and could be freed if Putin were to pardon them. The Orthodox church hinted it would not oppose such a move by appealing, belatedly, for mercy.



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