Don't judge Pussy Riot too harshly, Putin says

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the three women in the band Pussy Riot who performed a "protest prayer" at Russia's main cathedral should not be judged too harshly, raising defense lawyers' hopes that they could escape lengthy jail terms.

His comments, reported by Russian news agencies from a visit to London, suggested the three members of the punk band could escape the maximum seven-year jail term following international criticism of the Kremlin over the case.

Interfax news agency quoted Putin as saying there was "nothing good" about the band's protest.

"Nonetheless, I don't think that they should be judged so harshly for this," he said, adding that it was up to the court to decide the case. "I hope the court will come out with the right decision, a well-founded one."

Western governments and rights groups have called for leniency, and opposition leaders have depicted the trial as part of a crackdown on dissent since Putin began a third term as president on May 6.

The band members' defense lawyer said Putin's statements were a signal to western critics and to the judicial authorities trying the three women to show leniency.

"In my opinion this is a gesture towards the West, towards the consumers of Russian energy resources and (Putin's) business partners," defense lawyer Nikolai Polozov said at the court.

"Given the significance of such signals, we can expect some softening of the prosecution's position," he said.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, offended many Russian Orthodox Christian believers with the protest on February 21 on the altar of Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral.

They are being tried on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred over the performance in which they called on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out!"

Opinion polls suggest many Russians believe they should not be jailed because they have already been held in jail for about five months.

The three have denied they were motivated by hate, and that they were they were protesting against close ties between church and state. They were particularly angered by the support the Russian Orthodox Church's leader, Patriarch Kirill, gave Putin in his presidential election campaign this year.

Kremlin critics say Putin, who has ruled as president or prime minister since 2000, wants to use the trial to paint protesters in a negative light.

"Even in the Soviet era, in Stalin's time, the courts were more just," Polozov said.

Since his May 7 inauguration, the former KGB officer has signed laws raising fines for protesters, tightening control of the Internet - often used to organize protests - and imposing tougher rules on foreign-funded campaign and lobby groups.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, Gabriela Baczynska, Alissa de Carbonnel and Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Steve Gutterman, Timothy Heritage and Roger Atwood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-says-pussy-riot-not-judged-too-harshly-181206354.html

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