All three women were convicted in August of hooliganism for an irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin.
n this Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012 file photo feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Russia. Three members of Pussy Riot were jailed in March and charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after their punk performance against President Putin in MoscowÃÂs main cathedral. MOSCOW (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.