Defense lawyers for the all-female punk band Pussy Riot on Monday appealed the court verdict under which three members of the band were jailed for two years for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, lawyer Violetta Volkova said.
Along with other members of the band, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, in late February performed a "punk prayer" near the altar of Christ the Savior Cathedral urging the Virgin Mary to "redeem" Russia from Vladimir Putin.
Moscow’s Khamovnichesky Court on August 17 handed down two-year jail terms for all three women.
Lawyers for Pussy Riot said have only filed a short version of the appeal and are preparing an extended one to lodge later.
The defense team claimed in court that Pussy Riot’s performance was in protest against the Orthodox Church's support for Putin ahead of the March 4 presidential elections that returned him to the Kremlin.
