Review of the Pussy Riot verdict

On February 28, the Presidium of the Moscow City Court will return to consider the verdict in the case of a punk prayer service in the KhHS. In December, the Supreme Court opened supervisory proceedings at the request of Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and complaints from lawyer Irina Khrunova.

Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova will not come to the meeting on February 28 - they are going to the Basmanny Court, where the petition for house arrest of Alexei Navalny will be considered .

The December ruling of the Supreme Court noted that the descriptive and motivational part of the verdict in the Pussy Riot case refers to a crime motivated by religious hatred and enmity, but the motive of hatred towards a social group has not been proven in any way. In addition, the Khamovniki Court did not consider the issue of postponing the punishment of Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova until their children reach the age of 14. The verdict did not take into account the non-violent nature of the actions in the temple, the wishes of the victims who did not insist on severe punishment, the young age of the Pussy Riot members, the presence of children and other significant circumstances, the document noted.

The Supreme Court pointed out that, according to the verdict, Tolokonnikova's sentence was calculated from March 4, 2012, while the actual date of her detention, indicated in the police protocols, was March 3. All this gave the judicial board grounds for initiating supervisory proceedings.

On August 17, 2012, the judge of the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow, Marina Syrova, sentenced participants in a punk prayer service in the CSU to two years of general regime under Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism motivated by religious enmity and hatred). However, on October 10 of the same year, the cassation board of the Moscow City Court replaced Samutsevich's real term with a suspended one . At the same time, the sentences of Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina were upheld. In December 2013, they were released under an amnesty.