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Pussy Riot: Russia frees jailed punk band members | Pussy Riot: Russia frees jailed punk band members |
(35 minutes later) | |
Both jailed members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot, whose incarceration sparked a global outcry, have been released under an amnesty law. | |
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina dismissed the amnesty as a publicity stunt before the Sochi Winter Olympics in February. | |
They both promised to continue their vocal opposition to the government. | |
The women were jailed in August 2012 after performing a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral. | The women were jailed in August 2012 after performing a protest song in Moscow's main cathedral. |
The act was seen as blasphemous by many Russians, and was condemned by the Orthodox Church. | |
But their conviction for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" was criticised by rights groups, anti-Putin activists and foreign governments. | |
The amnesty passed last week aimed to free some 20,000 prisoners. | |
And in a separate move, President Vladimir Putin pardoned former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was once Russia's richest man, on humanitarian grounds. | |
He was freed after more than 10 years in prison for fraud and tax evasion and has since promised to stay out of politics. | |
'Totalitarian machine' | |
Both Pussy Riot members said their anti-government stance had not softened, and both promised to form a human-rights group to fight for prison reform. | |
Tolokonnikova shouted "Russia without Putin" as she emerged from a prison hospital in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. | |
The 24-year-old said her time in jail had not been wasted, adding: "I became older, I saw the state from within, I saw this totalitarian machine as it is. | |
"Russia is built on a penal colony. That is why it is so important to change the prison system in order to change Russia." | |
Alyokhina, released in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, 400km (280 miles) east of Moscow, told Russian TV that the amnesty was "a profanation". | |
"If it were possible, if I had had a choice, I would have stayed in prison without a doubt," she said. | |
They were due to be freed in March. | |
But the amnesty law covered women who had children to look after. Both women have children, and so were freed early. | |
They were convicted after performing an obscenity-laced song called Punk Prayer in Moscow's Christ the Saviour cathedral in February 2012. | |
The song was heavily critical of the Orthodox Church's support for the president, calling on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out". | The song was heavily critical of the Orthodox Church's support for the president, calling on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out". |
A third Pussy Riot protester, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was also jailed, but was released on appeal in October 2012. | A third Pussy Riot protester, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was also jailed, but was released on appeal in October 2012. |
Charges against 30 people arrested while taking part in a Greenpeace protest at a Russian Arctic offshore oil rig may also be dropped later this week under the amnesty law. | Charges against 30 people arrested while taking part in a Greenpeace protest at a Russian Arctic offshore oil rig may also be dropped later this week under the amnesty law. |
The group - mostly foreign activists - have been charged with hooliganism. | The group - mostly foreign activists - have been charged with hooliganism. |