The three members of the Pussy Riot group have been in custody since March 2012 and are awaiting a court ruling on August 17. The girls committed an act of vandalism in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February 2012, singing in front of the altar of the church a punk prayer service "Theotokos, drive Putin away."
Ekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were charged under Article 213, part two of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hooliganism committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy). The motives for this act are called hostile feelings towards Orthodox believers. This article provides for a term of up to 7 years in prison. The state prosecutor in court asked the participants of the punk prayer to be punished by three years of imprisonment in a general regime colony. He commuted the punishment due to the good characteristics of the girls and the fact that two of them have small children.
The Pussy Riot girls reiterated in the debate that they did not consider themselves guilty of the charges against them. They claim that their speech was buffoonish, buffoonish and did not carry hatred and enmity towards Orthodox believers. Participants of the punk prayer service associate the action with their political views, explaining their speech with a desire to protest against the support of the then presidential candidate Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin by Patriarch Kirill.
According to the prosecutor, the performance of the Pussy Riot group at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and, in addition, a similar performance at the Yelokhovsky Cathedral shortly before that had the goal of undermining the cultural traditions and foundations of the peoples of Russia. The prosecutor does not see the political component in this action, since in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, according to him, not a single name of any of the politicians was sounded. The lawyers of the injured party also insist on the lack of political motivation and ask to give the girls suspended sentences.
Maria Alekhina told reporters that the Pussy Riot group united people of different worldviews, including the Orthodox. The defendants also stressed that they have nothing to do with the posting on the Internet of a video clip with their performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
