News: Pussy Riot
Russian President says he hopes band members will not be "judged too severely" in trial
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has called on courts to be lenient towards feminist punk band Pussy Riot.
Yesterday, we reported that several musicians had contributed to growing international support for the band by signing a letter published in The Times urging for the trio’s fair trial. Part of the letter was addressed to Putin, who is currently in the UK.
Asked by journalists to comment on the court case, he responded that “There is nothing good in this. I wouldn’t really like to comment, but I think if the girls were, let’s say, in Israel, and insulted something in Israel… it wouldn’t be so easy for them to leave.”
He went on to add, confusingly, that if they had “desecrated some Muslim holy site, we wouldn’t even have had time to detain them”.
Putin expressed the opinion that “I don’t think they should be judged too severely for this,” adding that “the final decision rests with the courts – I hope the court will deliver a correct, well-founded ruling.”
