Commenting on the two year sentence given to the Russian Pussy Riot punk group, LI 2004 Prize for Freedom laureate and former leader of Yabloko (LI Full Member), Grigory Yavlinsky said: “The political protest by Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich has in fact very serious grounds. It is a protest against election fraud conducted to usurp power, and against censorship in the media, the lies and corruption, hypocrisy and injustice. The long term of imprisonment of the girls, forcing the atmosphere of unforgiveness and vengeance, does much more harm to the Russian society than their outrage in the temple.” Yabloko has condemned the controversial trial of the three members of the Russian band since their arrest on charges of hooliganism and religious hostility after performing a protest song against President Vladimir Putin at Moscow’s main Cathedral. Yavlinsky expressed hope that the Russian High Court will cancel the wrong verdict and set the girls free as this will correspond both to the interests of the country and the goals of the Church.

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