Amnesty International considers Pussy Riot prisoners of conscience and demands their release

On April 3, 2012, Amnesty International published an appeal to Russian authorities calling for the release of the detained members of "Pussy Riot" as prisoners of conscience. “Even if the three arrested women took part in the action, such severe retaliatory measures of the Russian authorities (taking into custody on charges in such a serious criminal offense as hooliganism) are unjustifiably harsh reaction to peaceful - albeit offensive to many people - expression of political opinions. Therefore, these three women can be considered prisoners of conscience,” the statement said.

“Even if the organizers conceived the action as shocking and gave themselves report that she might cause offense, the activists left the temple when they were asked to do so, and no harm was done. The whole promotion lasted only a few minutes and only briefly interfered with the use of the temple in others, predominantly for religious purposes,” Amnesty International representatives emphasize.

Human rights activists note that in the accusations against the members of the group “in violation of the law takes into account the broader political context anti-Putin speeches of that time.

“Instead of bringing Pussy Riot members to criminal responsibility for expressing their political views and criticizing the Russian leadership and a number of church leaders, the Russian authorities must recognize that their right to freedom of expression, enshrined in international law in field of human rights, extends to the performance of the protest. With Mary Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich must be removed charges of hooliganism and immediately and unconditionally release them from guards,” the international organization said in a statement. Sources

• Amnesty International calls on Russian authorities to release punk singers detained after performing at church // Amnesty International. 2012. April 3.