RETRANSMISSION FOR ALTERNATIVE CROP - Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, center, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Wednesday. Oct. 10, 2012. Moscow appeals court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich of jailed band Pussy Riot but upheld a prison sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina. 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.(AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
RETRANSMISSION FOR ALTERNATIVE CROP - Feminist punk group Pussy Riot members, from left, Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, center, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass cage at a court room in Moscow, Wednesday. Oct. 10, 2012. Moscow appeals court freed Yekaterina Samutsevich of jailed band Pussy Riot but upheld a prison sentence for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina. 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.(AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Freed feminist punk group Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich speaks outside a court in Moscow, Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012. A Moscow appeals court on Wednesday unexpectedly freed one of the jailed Pussy Riot members, but upheld the two-year prison sentence for the two others jailed for an irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin. The Moscow City Court ruled that Yekaterina Samutsevich?s sentence should be suspended because she was thrown out of the cathedral by guards before she could remove her guitar from its case and take part in the performance. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
A policeman watches band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova speaking on a TV screen in a hall outside a court room of the Moscow City Court where three members of the punk band Pussy Riot are set to make their case before a Russian appeals court that they should not be imprisoned, in Moscow, Wednesday. Oct. 10, 2012. Their impromptu performance inside Moscow's main cathedral in February came shortly before Putin was elected to a third term. The three women were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in prison. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
MOSCOW (AP) ? The Russian judges who ruled to keep two of the three Pussy Riot band members behind bars took the unusual step of publicly defending their decision, saying Thursday that it was made independently and without pressure.
A panel of three judges at the Moscow City Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling to send Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina to prison for two years, but they released Yekaterina Samutsevich after giving her a suspended sentence.
Pussy Riot staged an impromptu punk performance at Moscow's main cathedral in February in protest against President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy for openly supporting his rule. The three women were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, but they insist that their protest was political in nature and not an attack on religion.
The case has caused controversy in Russia and been widely condemned in the West, which may have prompted the judges to speak out.
The presiding judge said the appeals court deemed it necessary for Tolokonnikova and Alekhina to remain incarcerated.
"The court has considered all the circumstances of the case and the level of danger to society and ruled that their correction is possible only in isolation from society," Larisa Polyakova said.
She said the fact that the women both have a small child was taken into account at the lower court, which handed down two-year sentences on a charge that carries a maximum punishment of seven years in prison.
Polyakova said the leniency for Samutsevich reflected "her degree of participation" in the crime.
Samutsevich's lawyer made the case at the appeals hearing that her client should be treated differently because she had been nabbed by security guards and taken out of the cathedral before she was able to join other band members in the performance.
The Pussy Riot trial has become a symbol of Putin's crackdown on dissent since returning to the presidency in May after four years as prime minister. Just days before the appeals hearing, Putin said he thought the lower court had been right to hand down a two-year prison term, a statement that defense lawyers said would put pressure on the court.
Polyakova insisted that the judges were not influenced by Putin's statements and made the decision "that we thought was necessary."
"There has never been any pressure on us in this case," she said.
Associated Pressjames harrison james harrison falcons giants game norman borlaug santorum new hampshire debate
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন