Pussy Riot appeal resumes under Putin shadow

MOSCOW—A Moscow court Wednesday hears the appeal of feminist punks Pussy Riot against their two-year prison camp sentence, days after President Vladimir Putin appeared to give his blessing to the verdict.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, are contesting their conviction for hooliganism over their protest stunt in Moscow’s main cathedral in February where they performed an anti-Putin song.

Calls for their freedom have been made by world figures from Madonna to Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi while the girls have been nominated for the EU parliament’s prestigious Sakharov prize for freedom of thought.

The hearing is due to start in the Moscow city court at 0700 GMT with a decision possible — although far from certain due to the legal technicalities — on the same day.

The first appeal hearing on October 1 was unexpectedly adjourned when Samutsevich announced she was firing her lawyer and said she did not agree with the defense team’s view of the case.

The women’s lawyers, who worked as a tight-knit team, said Samutsevich is under pressure from friends and expressed concern that she may break the unity of the group by pleading guilty in the hope of receiving a milder sentence.

But Russian media said Samutsevich would be represented by Irina Khrunova and Farit Murtazin — two high-profile lawyers with a track record of successfully defending opposition activists and journalists.

Before the appeal process started, a call by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for the trio to be given a suspended sentence and released as well as signs of mercy from the powerful Russian Orthodox Church had given rise to some hopes among their supporters.

However the lawyers have cautioned that a shortening of the verdict rather than an acquittal is the most they can hope for, a prediction that Putin’s latest comments did little to dispel.

In a special film made by state-owned NTV and aired on Putin’s 60th birthday Sunday, the Russian leader laughed when the interviewer asked him about Pussy Riot, calling the band “talented” for making everyone repeat its “indecent” name.

Pressed to comment on the court’s decision to jail the three women, Putin said: “It was right to arrest them and it was right that the court took the decision that it did.”

Pussy Riot. AP FILE PHOTO

He added that the band’s anti-Putin song “Virgin Mary, redeem us of Putin!” was added to the viral video of their performance to divert attention from the actual stunt in the church to politics and make Pussy Riot famous.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Putin said about the women’s sentence. “They wanted it and they got it.”

But Tolokonnikova’s lawyer Mark Feigin said Putin’s remarks displayed extensive knowledge of the case documents, which only proved his personal involvement.

“He is clearly interested, involved, and regularly informed on the case,” he said. “He demonstrated what he thinks about the court judgement without waiting for the appeal to decide whether or not it was fair.”

“This is direct pressure on the court,” he told Agence France-Presse. “In an authoritarian system, even if the judges don’t receive direct orders, they will take his opinion into account.”

Under Russian law, an appeal contests both the conviction itself and the length of the punishment.

The women have been held in a Moscow prison since their March arrest and will only be transferred to a prison camp if the conviction is confirmed by the Moscow city court.

Footage from their cells recently published on the website of opposition magazine The New Times showed modest quarters of two metal bunkbeds and some cupboards covered with flowery oilcloths.