President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the three women in the band Pussy Riot who performed a «protest prayer» at Russia’s main cathedral should not be judged too harshly, raising defence lawyers’ hopes that they could escape lengthy jail terms.
Putin’s comments, reported by Russian news agencies during his visit to London, suggested the three members of the punk band could escape the maximum seven-year jail term following international criticism of the Kremlin over the case.
Putin said here was «nothing good» about the band’s protest, Interfax reported.
«Nonetheless, I don’t think that they should be judged so harshly for this,» he said, adding that it was up to the court to decide the case. «I hope the court will come out with the right decision, a well-founded one.»
Western governments have criticised the prosecution of the women and human rights groups as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers and other performers have called for their immediate release.
Russian opposition leaders have depicted the trial as part of a crackdown on dissent since Putin began a third term as president on May 7.
A lawyer for the band members said Putin’s statements were a signal to Western critics, and to the judicial authorities trying the three women to show leniency.
«In my opinion this is a gesture towards the West, towards the consumers of Russian energy resources and (Putin’s) business partners,» defence lawyer Nikolai Polozov said at the court.
«Given the significance of such signals, we can expect some softening of the prosecution’s position,» he said.
He expressed caution in a remark on Twitter, however, saying: «To tell the truth, I don’t believe Putin. If the signal gets through and the court reacts, OK, but if not we will fight on.»
Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, offended many Russian Orthodox Christian believers with the protest on Feb. 21 on the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald