Post date: Aug 07, 2012 1:29:56 PM
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 7, 2012) (REUTERS) - A lawyer representing church employees in the Pussy Riot trial said on Tuesday (August 7) that her clients wanted to see the punk rock group sent to jail.
A lawyer representing church workers employed at Russia's Christ the Saviour Cathedral says her clients want jail time for the punk rock group Pussy Riot who performed a "punk prayer" in a church.
Larisa Pavlova, who is standing in court for several workers employed at Russia's Christ the Saviour Cathedral where Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 performed their 'punk prayer', said the prosecution would ask for a three year sentence for the women.
"The prosecutor has now given his speech. He has taken into account all the circumstances - that the defendants acted insolently, that they planned and prepared in advance, that they purchased things, that they rehearsed it all more than once, both at their bases and at the Epiphany Cathedral, and taking all that into account, he thinks it is a grievous and provocative crime, aimed at a wide circle of Orthodox believers, and he asked for three years imprisonment in a general prison ."
Pavlova said her clients had asked to be protected from possible future activity of Pussy Riot.
"I think that the judge will set a fair punishment. But the injured party is asking to be shielded not just from what happened, but also from those actions that the defendants, as they say, intend to take in the future.
Therefore the punishment must be in accordance with their actions and with the condition and disposition of the injured parties," Pavlova said.
"Besides the fact that there is no sincere repentance, as the injured parties said, this (act) really grieves them, and just surprises them, and that similar actions will just be a schism for society, that a democratic society must be according to the rules, and a democratic government should be respectful towards the freedom of other people. The defendants oppose Orthodox society, and want to continue acting this way in the future, as we understand," she added.
The case, in which the three are charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, has outraged many Russian Orthodox believers. But it has also caused an international outcry and focused attention on a crackdown on dissent since Putin returned to the presidency for a six-year term on May 7.
The Pussy Riot group members could have faced a maximum sentence of seven years for storming the altar of Moscow's main cathedral on Feb. 21 and belting out a "punk prayer" calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin, who is now president.