Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova — members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot — have been released from prison almost two years after they were arrested for performing a protest song inside a Moscow cathedral.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed the duo's release with all the enthusiasm of a man who's been dragged along for a full day of Christmas shopping. "I'll do it," Putin seems to be saying, "but I don't have to be happy about it."
"I was not sorry that they [the Pussy Riot members] ended up behind bars," Putin told a televised news conference. "I was sorry that they were engaged in such disgraceful behaviour, which in my view was degrading to the dignity of women."
Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have been freed as the result of an amnesty bill for first-time offenders, minors and women with small children that was passed by the Russian Duma and supported by Putin earlier this week. The bill is believed to be a (very public) attempt to improve Russia's human rights record before the nation hosts February's Winter Olympics.
The duo were arrested and found guilty on charges of "hooliganism" after performing a protest song, 'Punk Prayer: Mother Of God Drive Putin Away', inside Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral on February 21, 2010 (bandmate Yekaterina Samutsevich was also arrested, but successfully appealed her sentence last year).
They were due for release in March, but as both women have young children, they are eligible for release under the amnesty bill.
(Via Music Feeds)
