Pussy Riot member released from jail

The three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after they staged a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral.

They have been in prison since their arrest in March and Ms Samutsevich, 30, was released on a two-year suspended sentence after an appeal.

The three women 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.

But Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, [pictured below] were not released. One of the defence lawyers, Mark Feigin, said: “We’re glad that Yekaterina Samutsevich has been freed, but we think the other two girls should also be released,” adding that the appeal process would continue.

Gallery: Pussy Riot supporters around the world

Stanislav Samutsevich, Yekaterina’s father, said: “The lengthy separation from my daughter has left a terrible impact on me, of course. Although she will be free, she got a suspended sentence for two years under an article (of the penal code), which I consider unfair.”

Dressed in neon-coloured miniskirts and tights, with homemade balaclavas on their heads, the women performed a “punk prayer” asking Virgin Mary to save Russia from Putin as he headed into a March election that would hand him a third term.

The case has been condemned in the US and Europe, where it has been seen as an illustration of Putin’s intensifying crackdown on dissent after his return to the presidency after four years as prime minister.

Putin, however, recently said two-year sentences were justified because “it is impermissible to undermine our moral foundations, moral values, to try to destroy the country”.

The Russian Orthodox Church had said the appeals court should show leniency if the three women repented. But the defendants said on Wednesday that they could not repent because they harboured no religious hatred and had committed no crime. Their protest, they said, was against Putin and the church hierarchy for openly supporting his rule.