2 Pussy Riot Members Walk Free From Prison in Russia

Two members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot were released from prison on Monday under Russia’s new amnesty law, the BBC reports.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (above, left) and Maria Alyokhina (above, center), along with third band member Ekaterina Samutsevich, were jailed in August 2012 after performing a protest concert in the main Moscow cathedral in February. Tolokonnikova was imprisoned in Siberia; Alyokhina was held in a prison in Nizhny Novgorod, the fifth largest city in Russia.

The three were found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” but Samutsevich was released in October 2012 on a suspended sentence. The other two women were due to be released in March 2014, but were freed three months early under the new amnesty law. The bill, which was passed by Russia’s parliament and signed into law by Russian President Vladimir Putin, granted amnesty to some 20,000 prisoners, mostly first-time offenders, minors and mothers with small children. The law coincides with the 20th anniversary of the adoption of Russia’s constitution. Read more…

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