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| Man held over double murder in which graffiti was linked to Pussy Riot | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Russian investigators say police have detained a man who has confessed to killing two women and then tried to mislead them by scrawling a message at the murder scene demanding freedom for jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band. | Russian investigators say police have detained a man who has confessed to killing two women and then tried to mislead them by scrawling a message at the murder scene demanding freedom for jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band. |
| The man – a 38-year-old university professor named Igor Danilevsky – was detained on Thursday in Kazan, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Friday. | The man – a 38-year-old university professor named Igor Danilevsky – was detained on Thursday in Kazan, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Friday. |
| It alleged Danilevsky wrote "Free Pussy Riot" on a wall in the victims' blood because he wanted the deaths of the 38-year-old woman he was dating and her 76-year-old mother, to appear as if they were a ritual killing. | It alleged Danilevsky wrote "Free Pussy Riot" on a wall in the victims' blood because he wanted the deaths of the 38-year-old woman he was dating and her 76-year-old mother, to appear as if they were a ritual killing. |
| The committee said Danilevsky had persuaded the woman to take out a loan to repay his debts, and promised to marry her. Police had found the knife used to stab the women to death and disfigure their faces and bodies, it said. | |
| Three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison this month for staging a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral in February, entreating the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin, who at the time was on the verge of winning a third presidential term. | |
| The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an international furore, with celebrities including Paul McCartney urging Russian authorities to free the band. | The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an international furore, with celebrities including Paul McCartney urging Russian authorities to free the band. |
| The jailed band members' lawyer had called the murder of the two women "either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic" case. | The jailed band members' lawyer had called the murder of the two women "either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic" case. |
| Kremlin-friendly media and Orthodox church clerics had seized upon the alleged link between the murder and the band to lambast the artists and their supporters, and compared them to mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses. | Kremlin-friendly media and Orthodox church clerics had seized upon the alleged link between the murder and the band to lambast the artists and their supporters, and compared them to mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses. |
| Some Russian publications ran headlines claiming Pussy Riot supporters "committed" or "inspired" the double homicide. Coverage was full of the mostly negative terms used by Kremlin-friendly television networks and media in their coverage of the protesters' trial. | Some Russian publications ran headlines claiming Pussy Riot supporters "committed" or "inspired" the double homicide. Coverage was full of the mostly negative terms used by Kremlin-friendly television networks and media in their coverage of the protesters' trial. |
| The Orthodox church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious, but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions asking the authorities to free them. | The Orthodox church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious, but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions asking the authorities to free them. |