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Putin Blasts Pussy Riot but Calls for â€œMilderâ€ Punishment

02 August 2012 22:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday criticized the Pussy Riot punk band for their performance in downtown Moscowâ€™s Christ the Savior Cathedral but said the punishment for them should not be â€œtoo harshâ€, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti

â€œThere is nothing good in it [the performance], I would not like to comment on it, but I think that if the girls had desecrated something in Israelâ€¦ they would not have left that country that easily,â€ Putin told journalists prior to his departure from London.

Three Pussy Riot members - Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, all aged between 20 and 30 - are on trial in Moscow over their performance of a â€œpunk prayer,â€ calling for then-Prime Minister Putin to quit. The performance contained insults to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia, as well as blasphemous words, which insulted believers.

The young women face up to seven years if convicted on hooliganism charges in the case that split Russian society with some saying the punishment should be harsh and others saying the women only committed an ethical wrongdoing, which should not punished by prison terms. The three women have been in jail since February, when the performance took place. They say their song was against what they called church support for Putinâ€™s presidential election campaign.

â€œOr if they had gone to the Caucasus, desecrated a Muslim sacred thing, we would have even been unable to take them into custody,â€ Putin went on.

â€œStill, I do not think they should be judged that harshly for that,â€ the president said.

â€œI hope they will make certain conclusions themselves. Nevertheless, it is up to the court to make the final ruling,â€ he said.

Putin, who was in London on a one-day visit for talks with his British counterpart David Cameron and judo competitions, said he hopes the court will make â€œthe right decision.â€

The Russian leader said he and Cameron had not discussed the issue at their Thursday meeting.

Prior to Putinâ€™s visit to London, British newspapers called on Putin to free â€œpolitical prisoners,â€ including the punk band members. The addresses were signed by British officials and cultural figures.

Members of Pussy Riot, whose â€œpunk prayerâ€ took place next to the Christ the Savior Cathedralâ€™s main altar, which is off-limits to all but priests, have called their performance in Moscowâ€™s Christ the Savior Cathedral an â€œethical mistake,â€ but pleaded not guilty to charges of hooliganism.