Russia's Pussy Riot punk rockers to remain in custody

[Foxy Brown]

Two women from female Russian punk group Pussy Riot must remain in custody for six more weeks, a court has ruled.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Mariya Alekhina were arrested last month after the band overran the pulpit of a Moscow church.

The group chanted slogans to protest against the president elect Vladimir Putin.

The women, who both have young children, could face seven years in jail if found guilty of hooliganism.

The all-female feminist band gained notoriety for its masked performances denouncing Vladimir Putin in the run-up to presidential elections which were held earlier this month.

They performed in high-profile places such as Red Square and on a rooftop opposite a jail where anti-government protesters had been locked up.

In the Red Square performance the group sang "Putin has wet himself" before police arrived.

The two women were arrested after the group chanted "Mother Mary, drive Putin away" at Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral on 21 February.

The Orthodox Church condemned the incident saying it was blasphemous but it has called for mercy on the two mothers.

The Moscow City Court said they will remain in custody until 24 April.

The Associated Press news agency is reporting that the women have declared a hunger strike to protest against their treatment.

Fighting broke out outside the court and three of their supporters as well as one critic were arrested.

[Foxy Brown]

A Moscow judge has ordered three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot to spend the next six months in jail, prolonging a case that has highlighted the crackdown on freedom of expression in Vladimir Putin's Russia.

The three women – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alekhina – were remanded in custody until January 2013. They have been in jail since their arrest in March after performing an anti-Putin "punk prayer" in Moscow's most important church, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Their supporters say the powerful Orthodox church, which has close links with Putin, is behind the drive to keep the women in jail. Top church officials have come out in favour of their incarceration. They face up to seven years in prison on charges of hooliganism.

Pussy Riot erupted on the scene amid a wave of protest over Putin's re-election as president. With bright balaclavas, rabid punk anthems and explicitly anti-government lyrics, they helped enliven Russia's growing urban protest movement.

Friday's pre-trial court hearing marked the formal start to the group's trial. Pre-trial hearings are due to continue next week.

Many religious Russians who initially took offence at Pussy Riot's church stunt have since called for their release. A poll released on Friday by the Levada Centre, an independent pollster, showed that 50% of Muscovites surveyed were against pursuing the criminal case against the three women, while 36% supported it.