Extended again

The Tagansky court extended until July 24 the arrest of members of the Pussy Riot group Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alekhina, accused of hooliganism for a scandalous action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Supporters of the group, who gathered at the courthouse for pickets, performed a verse from a punk prayer service, Interfax-Religion reports.

Five young people, whose faces were hidden under a layer of cosmetic cream with cucumber slices, sang a few lines of the verse “Virgin Mary, drive Putin away.”

A few minutes later, the participants in the impromptu performance were detained by police officers. At the same time, the gathered activists whistled and chanted “Shame!”

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova told reporters that Center E employees are threatening her with a real prison term if she does not admit her guilt. Tolokonnikova said that she would never admit her guilt in the incriminated acts. She emphasized that she would not do this, since she did not consider herself guilty, and her actions did not constitute a crime under Art. 213 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The head of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov, sees no reason to extend the arrest of members of the punk group Pussy Riot.

“We must understand that detention is an exceptional preventive measure that is used in exceptional cases,” Fedotov told Interfax on Wednesday.

“Detention is not the rule, but an exception to the rule. Our investigative bodies and courts need to remember this. To do this, you need to read the Code of Criminal Procedure - everything is written there. People in respect of whom evidence has been collected must be kept in custody. that they did something criminal,” he said.

Previously, he spoke out against the criminal prosecution of Pussy Riot members, emphasizing that the maximum that the girls deserve is an administrative punishment for petty hooliganism.